The Smoke

Real Name: Artyom Ivanof
Renegade Name: The Smoke
Title: The Smoke
Alignment: Chaotic good
Age: Late twenties
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Hair: Dark Blonde
Eyes: Bluish Green
Height: 5'8
Weight: 149 Lbs
Blood type: Unknown


The Smoke, as his case file is titled, most often takes a form fitting of the name, that being a cloud of smoke. However, when in a human form, the subject looks like a male humanoid in it's late twenties with dark blonde hair, bluish green eyes, and a broad shouldered muscular build. He stands at a height of 5'8, with pale skin. Those who have been near him describe his scent as that of a snuffed out campfire, or smoked meat in some cases.




The subject shows apathy similar to that of a trained killer, likely due to years in a in a Russian superhuman task force. That's the general assumption, however the Russian government refuses to confirm the existence of [REDACTED]. This Apathy leads to a generally cynical personality and a dark sense of humor. Likely due to bad experiences amongst [REDACTED], Artyom Ivanof shows issues with authority, specifically government authority. He hates governments, believing them to be stifling the freedom of the people, and avoids interacting with them. However, in his appearances across the earth, he has shown the occasional act of rebellion. Due to a large amount of smoke in the area when it occurred, it is believed he was the cause of an entire Chinese security camera network outage in Beijing, which lasted an entire night. Due to preferences when hunting criminals, it is believed the subject compares his days in [REDACTED] to slavery. Every few months, scores of human traffickers appear in abandoned construction sites, dead in various ways, and all of them showing internal organ damage from breathing in dangerous amounts of smoke. Not much more about his current personal habits are known, investigation pending.

It is unknown where Artyom was born, and keeping track of him has been a hard task since he went awol from [REDACTED]. Due to his ability, he is easily able to travel the world using wind currents and storms Due to the Russian government's refusal to release details of his time in [REDACTED] and how they got ahold of him, all there is as evidence of his existence are collections of incidents across the world that he is suspected to be the perpetrator of. The first unclassified appearance was 5 years ago, in the united states. Fifteen human traffickers found dead in Detroit, all lined up side by side in a building, each one suffocated by smoke. A young girl, unharmed, was found in the closet. When asked, she proceeded to explain that a blonde haired man had entered the building. He had yelled some words in Russian as the men opened fire, then smoke came from the vents, entering them like spirits possessing a body. he stood there while they all choked out, lined the bodies up, and then left. The police received an anonymous call from a Russian accented male that night. It's suspected Artyome made the call.

The second known incident was the Beijing camera outage, 2 years ago. The Chinese had a discreet area where most of Beijing's camera footage was stored. Witnesses stated the room suddenly began to fill with smoke, cascading down from the vents like tendrils. Each of those in the room experienced different things in the smoke, A floating pair of bluish green eyes, a dark figure standing before them that could not be touched. Supposedly door opened on it's own, allowing those within to flee. The smoke's heat soon overheated the server machines, ruining them and causing the outage. various factories would also shut down for days due to smoke related incidents all over China in the following weeks.

It's suspected he knows we're on to him, as there has been mostly silence since then. Various criminals turning up dead here and there, some minor smoke related incidents, but nothing concrete as to where he centers himself, we believe he rolls dice to decide where he'll strike next, as his suspected appearances have no rhyme or reason. Further investigation pending.

The subject, Artyom, also known as The Smoke, lives up to his name. At will, he is able to switch between solid form and gas. When in solid form, there's nothing remarkable about him. However, due to military training, he is in peak human condition, with the combat skills to match. Therefore it is recommended that his human for be treated as just as much of a threat.

When in the form of smoke, he's able to form himself into shapes, spread himself over a small area, and heat up the smoke itself as if it were smoke coming from an actual fire. On top of this, he's able to make parts of his body appear within the smoke for various purposes. he is able to feel the presence of those within his smoke, and will act accordingly. This allows him to turn into a light smoke field that acts like a spider's web. while a part of his body is materialized and the rest is smoke, that part is able to move at high velocity, propelling itself with blasts of smoke. He also contains a very limited ability to turn objects into smoke. Specifically objects on his person. Cloths, smaller weapons, etc. However, that is his limit.



His ability to be blow away by the wind is a double edged sword. When in human form, his reaction to wind is just fine. However, when in smoke form, the wind can be his enemy in the right situation, as when his smoke cloud is blown in different directions, it becomes much harder for him to once again become whole, making him mostly ineffective in combat

The Smoke is still mortal. He has to will it in order to become smoke. So surprise attacks, and extremely fast attacks pose a very real danger. Especially from super humans, since outside of smoke form, he's very much a normal person.

Cold temperatures are also not to his advantage, as getting cold too fast can cause his smoke to turn into aerogel. As of yet, he cannot control aerogel, making parts of his cloud that become it effectively useless. If his entire cloud becomes aerogel, he dies.

AK-47
Bayonet Combat knife
Machete
Brass knuckles
Silenced Makarov PMM

None

The smoke his cloud is composed of can vary in color, often going between shades of black to colors of white and gray.

The detective sighed as he sat crouched over the corpse. "Jim Flannagan. Been huntin yer ass for years, only for you to show up here of all places." His eyes drift away from the corpse to look around the building. Abandoned and decrepit from some unfinished building project. "What an ungraceful place for a crime king such as yourself to go out, huh? Let's see what did it." Seeing no visible wounds on the body, he uses a stick tp push the mouth open. A small cloud of smoke floats out, dissipating into the air. The detective scoffs. "Fuck's sake, not this again." This had been happening in New York so often at this point that he had the government on speed dial.  He proceeds to call their number on his phone, frowning with concern as he stands up, taking a walk outside to get away from the corpses and to get netter signal. "Yea, yep. The usual. Add it to the file." Just like that, the conversation ended.

The detective spotted something across the street as he put his phone away. A man in a hoodie, watching from cross the street, face shaded by the hood. He instantly began approaching the figure, pulling out his badge. "Hey, police here. Help me out here. You hear or see anything that happened in this building?" Brief and quick, the hooded man spoke a single word. "Smoke." The detective throws his hands in the air, exasperated. "Oh, yes. Thank you. That's incredible."

The hooded man shrugs. Then the moment the detective blinks, he's gone, only leaving behind a trail of smoke. the moment the detective's eyes are fully open again, he hisses to himself, taking out his phone to call the number once again. "Shit. Shit. Shit!"