Pain

Brock was created in the US, but lived in Russia for most of his early life. He was not brought into this world naturally, but instead was created in a lab. It was his "parents" plan, having to go through giving birth to a child was a burden and would slow them down. His parents viewed it as a way to pass on their skills to an even deadlier host. They didn't want a son, they wanted a killing machine they could manipulate. They were successful in only one part. The two originally worked for the Special Forces, a group specifically devoted to dealing with superhumans. The group had one major goal, to control all superhumans and eradicate any who stood in there way. The early members of this group were not necessarily evil, but they were trying to bring peace and order through power and control. Brock was born with extraordinary powers that would develop and grow as he did, he was the very first artificial superhuman that had been created. The name of his project was "Perfection", the name choice representing exactly what they were going for. A perfect weapon. However, what good is a weapon if you cannot use it as you see fit? Before he even left the tube he was brainwashed, programmed like a machine to be void of free will, emotions, and physical feeling. His senses of touch, taste and smell were numbed to the point they feel as if they don't exist. They did not want him to have any distractions or weaknesses, and a thought or feeling can cause hesitation. There is no hesitation in perfection.

Not long after Project "Perfection" was released from his tube, his parents betrayed the group and slaughtered several of their own crew before running off with the baby to Russia. The devious couple traded loyalty for wealth, killing their comrades meant nothing, just a stepping stone to more power. It surely paid off, they were paid top-dollar for their skills and had no problem using it on anyone. The two had no restrictions, they were cold blooded assassins belonging to a secret organization that would later inspire and back SCAR's rise to power. They were highly skilled, trained well enough to even kill superhumans. The two felt invincible, as if no mission was too difficult. They were wrong and paid dearly for their over confidence. Both were killed on a mission when Brock was about eight years old. They were set up, and as skilled as they were they should have known better, but one mistake was all it took to end their lives. They were outnumbered and outgunned, it was a complete slaughter. When his parents died, they left their "weapon" in the capable hands of one of their "servants". This particular man aided in their betrayal and agreed to help raise the "weapon" even before they met their demise.

Brock was far too young to get to really know them, and they were far too busy to even bother. All he remembers is faces, no words, no love, just a few faces. Brock was a tough kid who got used to being alone at a very young age, the most friendly face being the servant had little connection to. He wasn't the brightest kid, but he knew why his parents weren't around. He may not have known what they did at the time, but he knew his insignificance to them. They never even named him, Brock was a name he didn't adopt until he moved to the US. Before then he had no name, he was only referred to as general impersonal terms such as "boy" or "child". It angered him as a child, it made him hate his parents, it made him hate everything including himself. Brock was a boy riddled with aggression and emotions that he could not properly process. He never went to school because he never technically existed, instead he was taught at home by one of the many servants his "parents" paid for. The only thing that interested Brock as a kid was fighting, everything else was foreign or didn't matter. His social skills were beyond terrible, he had such little social interaction that many thought he was mute. The young boy might as well been, he rarely ever spoke. The only thing that ever really made him "happy" was the sky, it baffled him. It made him wonder what was out there, and if this was the extent of it. Looking up at the sky, no matter what the weather or time of day gave the young boy hope; the only hope he had at that time.

As the young man grew, his rage and power excelled beyond what his body could handle. He could not control his powers and was viewed as a monster by anyone he met; he even thought himself as one. As the years went on, the brain washing he had received at birth dwindled severely. The brain washing gave him constant hallucinations, destroyed his memories and stripped him of free will. It was never meant to fade, but his incredible will power slowly broke the grip it had on him. He regained his free-will long ago, but his mind still felt in pieces; he wondered if he was even alive. The memories disappeared and came back in brief flashes, but were too difficult to piece together; in time they'd all come together. The hallucinations became less severe, and as an adult they are only rarely triggered by extreme distress. These mental conditions drove him to near insanity, but whenever he couldn't remember, whenever he was going mad, he looked to the sky and felt a familiar comfort. The young man didn't understand why, but he never questioned it. Despite everything, Brock never gave up on himself, or on his life. The young man wanted to do something with himself, put this power he had to use somewhere, but every time he got the strength to do something, his brain worked against him. Pain turned to drugs and sex very early in life, having many partners he will never remember. It wasn't until a mugger attacked him at sixteen years old that things really snapped into place. The mugger saw him as an easy target, a drugged out teen walking around at night alone; the thief felt lucky, but he was quite the opposite. Brock did not communicate and therefore was shot in the chest, but the bullet ricocheted right off of his skin. The mugger panicked, having no idea what he had gotten himself into. He screamed for his life as he unloaded every bullet he had into the young man. It did nothing, and Brock beat him to death with his bare hands. The young boy lost control, he smashed through the mugger's skull but did not stop there. The ground shuddered from each strike he threw, there was nothing left of the man, but his rage blinded him. Brock abruptly stopped when he felt himself having another hallucination, his bloodied hands rushed up to grab his silvery hair. Rage consumed him, he yanked his hair in frustration as he was completely mentally overwhelmed by the hallucinations. They were of his young life, flashing through his head like a flip book. The pictures twisted into darkness. A silhouette of a slender man lit dimly by what appeared to be moonlight stood before him and the carnage he created. This man was purely a figment of his imagination, but to him at this moment it felt real. Pain heard whispers in his head, words he couldn't make out. There were too many voices, too much to process. The dark figure held his hand out to the young man, but he could only growl out at him. Brock could barely move, he could only violently squeeze his hair as he dealt with the mental trauma. The figure's hand lay flat, still extended to the young man. A small scale of a metropolis was in his hand. Brock looked up at it, finding the strength in himself to extend his right hand out to the man. Just as he stood to take the man's hand, he disappeared and the small city in his hand flew towards the young man's forehead. Immediately he clutched his forehead and growled out in pain. An entire city filled his head, rushing through his mind just like his life. Skyscrapers, cars, people, signs, lights, and at the end of it a large grey haired man stood tall. In an instant it was back to darkness, he heard nothing but his own intense heartbeat. Brock listened for briefly, trying to gather the mess in his head. He turned his head over his shoulder to see what he had done, but felt no remorse. Brock simply left the man there in the alley way and sprinted off. He went back home in an attempt to gather up some things and run away, but he was stopped by one of his parents servants. This servant knew what had happen, not exactly, but could obviously tell by the boy's blood soaked clothes. He told him they had to leave, and Brock did not hesitate to follow; it was almost hypnotic.

Brock went to New York with this strange man, being told that they had "friends" here that would help. These so called friends were actually the same people who created Pain. All these years later, they were ecstatic to see their experiment again. They were going to reprogram him, since it had clearly weakened over the years. However fate would not have that, the same shadowy figure he had envisioned when he murdered the mugger showed up to rescue him. In a matter of seconds, the entire room of scientists were out cold. Brock did not even so much as move a muscle, this man moved unlike anything he had seen. He had powers like him, it blew Brock's mind to learn that there were others; that he had been so hidden from the world. The figure revealed himself as "Entropus", then told Brock to come with him, that he would give him purpose and free him of his mental restraints. Indeed he did, but it took years. Brock was an extremely troubled youth, constantly turning to heavy drugs and alcohol in an attempt to self-medicate. Entropus did not interfere, nor did Ein; a friend who helped train Brock and fought crime with Entropus previously. They simply let Brock choose his own path as the three fought crime together throughout major cities. Both Ein and Entropus were not killers and strongly influenced Brock to never kill. For the most part, Brock abides by this and tried to change his ways, becoming a local hero to New York City. By age 21, he is a very well known throughout New York and opinions on him are all over the place. Despite what people think of him, Brock cleaned up his act and took on an official superhero persona at age 22; calling himself Pain. Pain ruled New York with an iron fist, no villain could stand in his way and he needed no ones help. This control over New York was good at first, but eventually led to even more fear and hatred of superhumans; even the ones protecting them. With the amount of times New York had been turned into a war zone, you couldn't blame them. At age 23 he met a woman named Raine, a villainess who he constantly rivals and eventually falls in love with. Their original meeting was a violent encounter that involved smashing her rib cage and crushing her lungs. Pain felt extremely guilty for using such excessive force and brought her back to the GUN base that was still in construction. It was a risky move that endangered and upset all of his allies, but Pain could not leave her to regular medical care; she might have died. The Black Knight treated her, and Pain constantly visited her bedside. This is where the two fell in love and shared their first kiss. When she recovered, Pain willingly released her against his allies wishes. He told her to stay out of trouble, but he knew that she'd find herself in it again very soon. The two ran into each other from time to time and tried to keep some sort of secret twisted relationship.

To help distribute the crime fighting and prevent so much collateral damage, the heroes banded together and started an organization of superhumans they called Guardian Unit Of The Nations, or GUN for short. Ein, Stephen, Slamfist, Pain, Tenshi, and Obsidior were the founders and leaders of the group. They were determined to prevent the world from plunging into chaos by restoring order. Their group quickly grew in size, becoming the most powerful superhuman group in the world. With this power they brought about a global peace, but it only lasted for two years before an evil group emerged from the shadows. The group called themselves SCAR, a group of crazed superhumans that considered themselves rejects, freaks, and thugs that just wanted to watch the world burn. The order had driven them mad, it was time to stir things up a bit and cause some chaos. Within the first six months of attacks, the group had made such a profound impact that the all of the U.N. was against them. They nicknamed their leader, "Chaos", because it was his only purpose and goal. It seemed to stick, because everywhere you went the name SCAR and Chaos was known and feared. All over, people were afraid to step out of their homes. It was time to wage a serious war, SCAR needed to be stopped.

Even more heroes have sided with GUN, but SCAR's numbers are still massive and taking them on in normal warfare would be too catastrophic. GUN has to fight this battle, so the leaders of GUN have no choice but to accept any superhuman willing to fight for them. A new leader has risen up from Chicago named The Black Knight, and with him his two apprentices; Black Arrow and Dark Shot. The War lasts for two and a half years before SCAR and all it's members are either apprehended or killed in the war. Pain defeated their leader Chaos in one on one combat, but chose to spare him and instead locked him up in GUN's maximum security prison wardened by Entropus.The losses were very heavy on GUN's side, fortunately all of the leaders survived, but they did sustain serious injuries. Ein, Obsidior, Stephen and The Black Knight were all nearly killed; Dark Shot was killed while leading a squad with The Black Arrow. GUN's size shrunk by about half after the war, largely due to the amount that died in the war. Despite all the losses, they were successful and brought about peace to the world once again.

Peace was extremely short lived, it lasted for roughly six months before a meteor slammed into Earth. It landed in harmlessly in Utah, somewhere in the middle of the desert. It was not the meteor that corrupted this order, but what it brought with it. The United States government immediately went to examine the meteorite, but upon arrival they would be confronted by Mistresso, a being of raw fiery energy. Mistresso annihilated everything that stood in his way and made his way towards the nearest town where his rampage continued. Everywhere he went a trail of destruction lie in his wake, and there was nothing the military could do to stop him. GUN quickly responded with a mighty squad of heroes, intending to overwhelm this creature with tactics, numbers, and their raw power. Indeed they did, the creature was defeated several times, but every time it would simply regenerate and continue on it's path. It did not take long for the strategists of GUN to realize that the creature was not on any specific path, it only intended to destroy and sought out densely populated areas for that very purpose. GUN strategized and pulled the fight back, luring Mistresso away from major cities and back into the desert. They did this with a formidable group of superhuman, Pain being at the front line of the assault. The battle waged for two days, and the heroes realized that this creature could not be defeated by conventional means. It needed to be contained, or it needed to be removed from the planet entirely. Both were possible, the most viable candidates being either the Black Knight or Entropus; they had the tech or power to deal with such a monstrosity. It had to be done during the brief interval that Mistresso regenerated, something that the heavy hitters like Pain and Slamfist constantly forced the creature to do. After Pain dealt his "finishing" strike, all the heroes with magic or energy powers concentrated their abilities on Mistresso at once. The being was contained within the mixed energies of the GUN forces, but it would not hold for long. The Black Knight had been given enough time to capture the being's energy in a small spherical prison, where it would remain forever trapped. Unfortunately things did not go according to plan, for the creature was not alone. They had no idea what they were up against, Mistresso was merely a pawn to a far greater power. A being that called himself Doomplague, he went from planet to planet, exterminating all life on it as if it were a game. Doomplague simply appeared to mock and laugh at the heroes, as if he were hiding there watching the whole time. With a snap of his fingers, Mistresso's life force began to fade, but it was not being absorbed into Doomplague, instead his raw energy was being turned into a ticking time bomb! Even with the containment field, the explosion would be massive enough to wipe out nearly half of the West Coast. Doomplague left them to their fate, assuming that they were far too weak to survive it. They were faced with a heart wrenching decision, because they knew only one of them could get the "bomb" out in time. Everyone looked to Entropus, but he didn't say a word; he knew his part in this. It infuriated Pain more than anyone, he was the only one to protest, claiming there had to be another way. Entropus smiled and shook his head, simply replying "There isn't, I've already thought it through." Without another word, the hero took Mistresso with him back to the black hole his powers were created from. They were both destroyed immediately, a necessary sacrifice to achieve victory. Now they had to defeat Doomplague, who did not waste time with his assault. Doomplague however was not mindless like their previous enemy, he was toying with them, intending to humiliate and beat them at their own game. He attacked New York, but did so slowly and mockingly, constantly calling out the heroes who were still recuperating from their battle with Mistresso. Pain could not stand waiting for the right time to strike and completely ignored The Black Knight's plan. He wanted to stop this monster and avenge Entropus, so he engaged Doomplague alone in the streets of New York. The younger Pain did not have the skill to defeat the tyrant and was ultimately defeated. Doomplague thought he had crippled Pain, having shattered his spine and beaten him to a bloody pulp. The rest of GUN showed up to see New York made into a total warzone, even worse than their war with SCAR. Their leader laid defeated in the rubble in a pile of his own blood. Fighting this monster seemed futile, but none of the heroes backed down despite the numerous injuries from their previous battles. One by one DoomPlague beat them all, tossing them aside and killing many of them just for laughs. The last man standing was The Raging Aussie known as Slamfist, a good hearted stubborn son of a bitch who refused to stay down despite the odds. Slamfist was beaten to the point that Pain had been earlier, he couldn't see straight and could barely stand. As Doomplague mocked Slamfist with strike after strike, laughing at him for being the "last man alive", Pain rose from the rubble with a thunderous roar. Pain rushed past his friend and straight into Doomplague, giving him the opportunity to land a clean haymaker that caught even the mighty tyrant  off guard. This one attack inspired Slamfist and gave him just enough strength for one last bout. The two of them stood shoulder to shoulder, the last line of defense against Doomplague. They fought valiantly, but even their combined might was not enough to outclass the tyrant. Doomplague knocked Pain aside and grabbed Slamfist, lifting him over his head in preparation to break his back just as he had done to Pain earlier. Slamfist could not regenerate like Pain, so a spinal injury for him was far more severe. Pain could only watch through one eye, down on one knee bleeding profusely from countless injuries as the tyrant mocked them. Doomplague snapped Slamfist's spine like a toothpick, it was brutal and rang viciously through the ears of Pain. However, even with the spinal injury Slamfist was able to strike into the throat of Doomplague before being tossed aside. The respirator that Doomplague wore cracked every so slightly, and Pain noticed it immediately after the tyrant finished clutching his throat in agony. Doomplague wore this because he could not survive on planets beside his own without it. The Big Guy had one shot left, and he wasn't about to let his allies sacrifices be in vain. Everything rested on his shoulders now. Pain felt power surging through him, as if he had gotten a second wind purely through will power. The two fought toe to toe, strike for strike, each hit like thunder throughout the city. Doomplague seemed slower, sloppier, even a little weaker. Whatever Slamfist had done was making an impact. They fought for some time, but towards the end Pain clearly had the upper hand and instead was the one toying with the tyrant. Pain lifted him up by his collar, looking up to him with rage filled eyes. "How..How are you still alive..?" Doomplague managed to cough up. Pain flared his nostrils, his opposite hand clutching in a claw shape as he responded to the tyrant's question. "Cause I'm made of tougher stuff than you are, punk." Those were the last words Doomplague heard before Pain shoved his hand through the respirator and into his throat, ripping it out and tossing him and the mess to the floor. GUN once again saved the Earth, but it came at a heavy price. After the war, Raine left Brock without a word. Though he would later come to find out it was because she was pregnant and did not want to hinder his heroics, it drove him into depression. Pain eventually went into solitude, leaving GUN for three years and rarely showing his face to anyone. Only Ein and The Black Knight received any contact from him, and when it did happen it was very brief. Pain did not involve himself in GUN's work or any major heroics during this time.

During Pain's time away from GUN he met a seductive succubus named Alruna. At first he did nothing but resist and turn her down, her magic having little if any effect on him. Eventually she grew on him, but Pain still kept himself very distant due to trust issues and fear of losing another loved one. GUN took a backseat and only really dealt with serious crimes that they were of superhuman level. They remained vigilant for any sign of villainy, but remained out of the way until they were needed. GUN was spread thin across the world, mostly stationed in the US. For awhile, things seemed peaceful again. Order had been restored and there were no major threats to the world; that they knew of at least. This peace was shattered when Ein was murdered in the streets of New York by Fantom and Relic. Ein had taken over Pain's position as the protector of New York and had been very successfully up until his death. It was his over confidence that caused his demise, thinking that he could take the two monsters on was the last mistake he could ever make. Pain arrived to the scene just before they could execute Ein, but his injuries were far too severe to survive the attack and Pain had no means of saving him other than fighting off the two. Pain was unable to get his revenge and instead had to hold his old friend in his arms as he bled out. He could do nothing but blame himself and swear to avenge his comrade. Fantom and Relic tried to lay low after their attack, but after some detective work from The Black Knight and Black Arrow, the two monsters were tracked down. They were aiding a recovering SCAR, led by a so called demon prince named Raide Nargeit. He was the one who sent the order for the two creatures to find and destroy Ein. Along with Alruna, the two would serve as tools for the summoning of the dark armies. The beautiful succubus Alruna grew very close to Pain, but he was unaware that she was the sister of their new greatest enemy, the demonic prince Raide Nargeit. Pain was reluctant to accept new people and slow with trust, especially when it came to love. His lack of trust was not misplaced, for her original motives were to control and destroy the heroes through Pain. Alruna's motives changed when she fell in love with him, and so she betrayed Raide in a naive hope of having her fairy tale ending with him. Alruna fed the heroes vital information of the strengths, weaknesses and tactics of the Dark Prince and his armies. She even helped Stephen rally some renegades and villains to fight for their cause. War was once again raged throughout the US, but it did not take long for it to spread to through rest of the world. Unlike in the past, they were not able to contain the fighting to specific areas. The attacks were random and all over, the entire world was being overrun with by Raide's legion of demons. GUN and it's allies did their best to aid the military forces in taking back their cities, but the demons presence would not disappear until their leader was defeated and the gateway from their realm to Earth's was closed. The leaders of GUN knew this, but had to spread themselves thin to help prevent a demonic global conquering. They assembled several teams of their very best to go on what was essentially a suicide mission. Countless teams were spread across to deal with the powerful generals of Raide's armies, even if he was defeated, they would remain and continue their destruction. Pain had nothing to do with their defeat, only Raide's. The angels were aided by one of GUN's leaders; Stephen. Their team's goal was to close the gates of hell, cutting Raide off from his infinite army of demons and power. Since Raide drew power from demons, their presence on Earth made him strong enough to defeat any foe that stood in his way. Earth's team of mostly GUN members were to lead the attack on the Dark Prince himself, their goal was to destroy him at any cost. This team was led by Pain himself and consisted of many old friends and foes. Both groups were ultimately successful, but of course at a price. Stephen sacrificed himself for the angels without consulting them. The team was overwhelmed and outnumbered, Stephen simply bought the angels the time they needed to escape through the closing portal. The GUN leader was left behind, but he had come to peace with it and died with a smile on his face. Stephen destroyed himself in one big expulsion of his energy and life force. As for Pain's group, they sustained far heavier casualties and were successful in large part due to Alruna's sacrifice. Their group's success was also heavily dependent on the Angels and Stephen's success; they had to hold him off until then. Alruna threw herself in front of her brother's attack in attempts to save Pain from being wounded, being impaled on his demonic blade and quickly bleeding out onto him. Alruna chose to do this for two reasons, Pain was far too important to their success, and she knew this would shock even The Dark Prince. They were demons, but they were still brother and sister, meant to conquer and rule all life together. The Black Knight and Black Arrow gave everything they had left and together shot down the mighty demon prince, pinning him under a volley of deadly explosives. Out of sheer rage, Pain rushed forward into the explosions, just as the two caped crusaders predicted. Due to the dark prince's hesitation, he would be destroyed by Pain in one nasty strike which went straight through his chest. Raide's heart was ripped right out of his chest, right before his sister's quickly fading eyes. The two laid there before Pain and his crew of heroes and misfits, drowning in a pool of their own demonic blood. Pain felt sorry for Alruna, it broke his heart to see her like this. He had never actually seen one of his lovers die before, it would be something he'd never forget. Pain had no words to say, he simply left the scene after Raide was defeated and left the cleaning up to what was left of GUN and the world's governments. The Big Guy once again went into solitude, pretty much leaving GUN all together. He went off to live outside of the US for some time, going all over the world to visit places he hadn't really been.

One of the most peaceful periods in Pain's life, he spends it wandering the eastern world and improving upon himself both mentally and physically. It is during this time that he meets another woman, a superhuman with fiery powers named Scarletta. They met in England at a bar in a small town, not exactly the ideal place to meet someone, but for Pain maybe it was just perfect. It was almost a love at first sight, the woman had been so extraordinarily beautiful that he just had to know her. The two hit it off immediately and Pain did not want to see her go just like that, so he offered for her to come along with him on his 'pilgrimage'. Scarletta was surprisingly not very reluctant, having learned who he was made things all the more interesting. The two learned much from each other, and for the first time in years Pain felt truly happy. Things might have been going well for Pain, but not for GUN. Without Stephen, they lost a significant political and financial backing that allowed for GUN's existence. The Black Knight and Black Arrow had little desire to keep the group going, finding it far simpler to simply work with their smaller groups outside of the system. GUN quickly fell after Pain left it. In result the Earth's heroes slowly fell out of contact and dispersed further and further. It wasn't until superhuman crime started to rapidly rise again in his old city that Pain decided to abandon his 'pilgrimage'. Scarletta agreed to come back with him, having always wanted to visit the Americas. She essentially became his partner, in more ways than one. The two moved in to a small apartment in New York, their first real attempt at staying in one place and living together. The two became the protectors of New York, and with their help the crime rate rapidly decreased. However this so called peace would only last for so long, for a dangerous thing from his past was coming back to haunt him and the entire world. It was during this time that Chaos broke out of his maximum security prison and went straight for Pain, gunning for his girl to get his attention. Chaos was only able to escape thanks to the fall of GUN, giving him the opportunity to get back onto the streets. Scarletta battled valiantly but was ultimately defeated and captured by the monster. Obviously Pain would come to her rescue, just as Chaos wanted. The villain sprang a trap, but it was far from enough to defeat Pain. Chaos was ultimately overwhelmed by Pain's skill and raw power, but even so refused to surrender. Pain attempted to knock him out with one punch, but it did not go according to plan. Chaos moved at the wrong time and the punch went straight into his temple, shattering his skull, rattling his brain and disconnecting it from his spinal cord. Chaos was killed by the extreme blunt trauma to his skull very quickly. Pain felt extremely guilty at first, but after awhile he realized that letting him live would only cause Pain to indirectly murder more people. Pain would take this into consideration more and more as his career went on.

A young woman named Nina came into the lives of the super hero duo that protected New York, Pain having met her first in the slums of the city. The girl was down on her luck, a runaway with almost no money to her name. She was superhuman, shared similar powers to Pain and in his eyes she resembled him when he was younger. Though she was a little more talkative, having given her real name to him without even realizing it. The young woman said she wanted to be like him, that she had adored him ever since she was little and left everything behind to go to New York in search of him. She took on her own superhero persona, Valkyrie, he liked that name. Pain took her under his wing, bringing her on his daily patrols and eventually on dangerous missions. The young woman had extraordinary potential, Pain only helped her achieve it. Scarletta also played a big role in aiding the young woman, the duo served almost as parental figures. Though Pain did not consider himself to be a good role model, at least they had Scarletta. Valkyrie was the person he trusted to take with him on his quest for vengeance. The two that had murdered his friend so long ago showed their faces in New York once again, but why? Maybe they wanted to simply torment him again, or maybe it was because Pain had murdered Chaos. It didn't matter, he would not throw away the opportunity to crush these punks. They did nothing but kill, destroying anything or anyone that got in their way. They wanted attention, they wanted the cameras on them, they wanted an audience; it made it all the more fun to laugh and mock Pain. Hero and sidekick, the two fight side-by-side against the cretins Fantom and Relic. Valkyrie held her own and supported Pain very well, making it fairly easy for them to defeat the two. Pain had grown far too strong for them over the years, and with a side-kick like her they were unstoppable. Valkyrie was unaware that Pain's intentions were to kill them and was shocked to see him commit such acts. The whole world probably was, but swore that these two would pay and he had every intention of seeing that promise through. He obliterated Fantom's head with one fatal punch, and Relic was executed with a boot to the face. Their brains were destroyed, they could not regenerate, and they would not harm another life again. Pain questioned himself as a hero, but what if this was the right choice? It hung there in the back of his head. Part of him felt right, all around he felt better knowing that they were gone forever. Not long after their deaths, the group that created Pain, Project Perfection, was uncovered by The Black Knight and Black Arrow. The group was breeding a massive army of superhuman clones all over the world, but they were unable to discover their exact locations or any plans of attack. The two had to make a difficult decision. If they destroy the clone facility, they potentially save countless lives, but at the same time they are destroying many, even if they are clones. Black Knight chose to be the one to pull the trigger, not wanting Arrow to have that blood on his hands. The facility was destroyed, but now they had to prepare to defend. Even without GUN, countless would stand up to fight, more than ever in the past. They had a war on their hands, and they had no idea when or where it was coming. The group waited in the shadows, and they would strike only when the time was right. They wanted a deeper wound than anyone had caused before, that took time and careful planning. It was during this time that Pain met his only true daughter, Rebecca "O'Day", who had left her mother's planet in search of her true father. Both of them had been lied to for years, but it was not meant to harm either of them. Raine simply wanted the best for the both of them and thought that lying to them was the answer. Rebecca took up her father's hero name, but that did not mean the two clicked very well. Their relationship was strained and distant, likely due to how similar their personalities were. However the two did share a special bond and could manage to express their love to one another here and there. When Rebecca first arrived, she was a young woman filled with anger and hate, but after getting to know her father she changed. Her heart softened but grew stronger, she was a spitting image of her father, only kinder. Pain would also come to meet his son, John Vanko, a man twisted by fate and filled with hatred for his father. Pain would never be able to establish a relationship with his son and instead the two were sworn enemies. John, or better known as Doctor Necrodium blamed Pain for everything that had happen to him and his mother. Sadly Pain could barely even remember her, but still felt extremely guilty for what had happened. Doctor Necrodium revealed his ultimate plan to Pain, claiming that New York would be in ruins by the end of the week. Pain responded violently and tried to settle the conflict then and there, but his son had much bigger plans and managed to narrowly escape his grasp. Necrodium said they would have their final battle, but not when Pain wanted it. Rebecca would help rally people to fight for the war against Project Perfection, and would lead an attack against their armies. However when the attack ensued, she eventually abandoned her post and went off in search of her brother. Rebecca intended to defeat him herself, brother versus sister, she was determined to do this for her father. The two battled intensely, but Paine was eventually overwhelmed by Necrodium and 'mercifully' killed by him. Necrodium dug his blade deep her into her chest, but despite the lethal act seemed to feel sorry for her and even apologized. He placed her down to bleed out on the floor, then simply waited for his father's arrival; it would not be much longer now. Pain had not abandoned his post, for if he had the Black Knight's entire squad would be overwhelmed by the massive forces Project Perfection had collected. They were not all simply Project members, many were from other villainous groups that sided with them in hopes of world domination. Despite how much the heroes had collected, they were vastly overwhelmed; it made every single man count. If one person were to leave their post, their entire team may fall. The Black Knight's squad was in the heart of the chaos that shrouded over New York, so they got some of the heaviest waves of enemies. The Black Knight received word that Rebecca had left her post, which forced her squad to fall back and let the enemies take vital parts of the city. In her eyes it did not matter, if the big guy was taken out, the rest would fall in line; she thought just like her father. However she was too hasty, so both her and her squad would pay for it. While fighting back-to-back with The Black Knight, Pain was informed that his daughter had left her post, and he knew exactly where she was going. Pain had no choice, he had to abandon his good friend William and his squad to go save his daughter. The Black Knight understood, nodding to his old friend and letting him know that he would take it from here. The last conversation the two had was brief, but perhaps the most meaningful and bonding conversation they've ever had. Among the chaos of warfare, they still were able to shortly speak to one another thanks to cover from their squad.
"I'm sorry. I-"
"I know."
"You and me, we'll fight again, but Becca, she ain't gonna' make it without me."
"Brock.. I'm getting old, I'm not like you."
"So this is it then huh? Gonna' retire after this?"
"Something like that."
The two responded to each other with a chuckle, a friendly smirk sticking to their faces as they extended a hand out to one another. The old friends shook hands, but Pain pulled him in for a brief brotherly hug. William had always been there for him, but Brock had not shown him that same respect. He could never repay him for what he's done.
"Thank you."
"Take care old friend, make this count."
"I will."
Pain was unaware of what he meant by that, but in the end The Black Knight sacrificed himself for his squad so that they could all survive. William took countless with him using a well placed tactical strike which landed pretty much directly on top of him. It devastated his squad, Black Arrow especially, but before he made the choice he told Arrow that his time in this world had simply run out. William explained that it was his world now, that the mantle would be passed onto him. Arrow had been like a son to him, it was painful to put him through this but it needed to be done. For the first time in Arrow's life, the Knight hugged him, just like Pain had hugged him. William apologized and then immediately forced him to retreat, threatening that he would drop the bomb with or without them here. Though hesitant, The Black Arrow sorrowfully followed orders and pulled his squad back to aid in other parts of the city that weren't completely lost. Meanwhile Pain was headed off to Staten Island in an attempt to rescue his daughter. Though upon arrival, he would discover he was far too late for that. Pain arrived to the horrific scene with hope of saving his daughter, but that was crushed when he saw her laying in a pool of blood. Pain failed to save his only daughter, and now he had to destroy his only son. The hero was about to lunge in on the attack, but was thrown off when he heard his daughter attempt to call his name. Though her words were barely croaked, Pain snapped out of his rage and dropped to his knees at her side. With the little strength she had left, his daughter made an attempt to grasp her father’s bloodied shirt. Hiding his despair, he leaned down to hear her final words. Pain lifted her shoulders from the ground, holding her close in his arms as he stroked her hair; the only comfort he could provide now. “It’s alright kid…” Brock rested his chin on top of her head, holding her tight as he felt the life slowly leave her. “I’m sorry..” It took every ounce of strength he had to hold back his tears. “I’m sorry..” Once her father, Brock, had lifted her up slightly, she leaned her heavy head into his chest to listen to his heart. She attempted to clear her throat, to speak louder, but all she could manage was a hushed whisper that the wind, thankfully, carried for her. "Dad... your heart.. is made.. of gold.. you.. have to.. share it's.. wealth.. with the world.." she coughed again, more blood, and more pain. She whimpered again and found him stroking her hair very comforting. She was losing feeling in her lower half now. She could feel death's gates opening wide, it's mouth begging for this treat; Rebecca O'Day. "It's not.. your fault, dad.. you.. I love.. you.." She said, the last ounce of life being ridden out on a soft spoken phrase. Pain snapped, seeing his daughter die like that infuriated him in a way he had never been before. With all his might, fury and sorrow he rushed towards Necrodium with fists clenched. The battle ensued between father and son, a titan and a superhuman killer. The two were evenly matched, but Pain's resolve gave him the strength to defeat his son. In the end he held his son up by the throat, choking the life out of him as he barked up at him "Damn you for makin' me do this! DAMN YOU!!!" As those last words bellowed from him, his fist dug straight into the chest of his own son where he would grab and crush his heart, killing him immediately. Pain for the first time in many years sobbed uncontrollably as his son fell dead on his shoulder, it utterly broke his heart that this was their first hug. "D-d-amn.. y-you.." His voice weakly quivered as he held his dead son in his arms. Brock brought him over to his sister and place him at her side, now looking down at his two dead children. Brock dropped to his knees and brought them into his chest, he held them tightly, for it would be last time he had the opportunity. The man had never sobbed like this before, he felt powerless like a child. He had no words left in him, but he wanted this time with them; well what was left of them. This was all his own doing, a product of his actions throughout the years, or so he convinced himself. Pain sat there for what felt like hours as the war fell apart around him. Without their leader, the rest eventually fell in line and the city was taken back: however over half of it was destroyed despite this. Pain eventually regained his composure and left their two bodies there, having already said his goodbyes he had no desire to stay involved any longer. Pain left the survivors of the war to deal with recovery alone, he had his own recovery to do. The man lived among the ruins of New York for sometime before disappearing entirely from public view.

Pain cut everyone he knew off, well, what was left of the people he knew. Scarletta went off in search of him, and did eventually find him, but he was not quite the man she used to know. Pain pushed her away and even went to the point of threatening her to leave him alone. However that was not enough for her to simply give up on him, she continued to attempt to reach out to him despite how little interest he showed in healing from this. Pain took a backseat, once again no longer involving himself in heroics. Even when the world called for his help, he chose not to involve himself and only watched from the sidelines. He was not a hero anymore, so he did not aid the heroes in their fight. It didn't matter who it was, friend or stranger, he did nothing for anyone for quite some time. Every day he felt as if he wanted to explode, but he never let himself. After that day he put it all behind him, never expressing or dealing with the trauma of losing his only two kids. Brock told himself he wouldn't go back, but Pain wasn't done with him; he was never done with him..

Pain returns to the public with a far darker view and personality, deeming that the heroes and authorities were not dealing with villains properly. They needed to be eradicated, the ones who would do nothing but destroy again and again, they needed to be removed from the Earth entirely. Pain no longer had any problems with killing, but he would only kill those he deemed that deserved it. The ex-hero no longer aligned himself with good or evil, claiming that he was beyond saving and could not operate among them anymore. Pain was no longer a hero, he would serve as something far greater. A guardian to the Earth, eradicating all evil that rose to destroy what is pure and good. By letting one killer live, you have indirectly murdered all of his victims. Order would be restored with an iron fist, that was Pain's philosophy.