Dmitri looked at the masked man and demanded, "Who ordered you?"
The three masked men glanced at each other, uncertain. The one with the gun aimed at Dmitri's head finally spoke, "Well, since you're going to die anyway, I might as well tell you... it was your father, Grand Duke Nikolai Kravinoff."
Dmitri's eyes widened in shock. "But how? I already cut all ties with him!"
The masked man shrugged. "Beats me. I'm just getting paid. And now, it's time for you to die."
Dmitri watched in shock as the events unfolded. His best friend, the only family he had ever known, was dead. The revelation that his own father had ordered his assassination left him reeling, unable to process the enormity of his loss and betrayal. He stood there, paralyzed by grief and disbelief, as the masked man aimed the gun at his head.
Just as the masked man was about to pull the trigger, his comrades fell one by one, their bodies dropping lifelessly to the ground.
The masked man, now alone and terrified, shouted, "What happened? Why are my comrades dead?"
A figure emerged from the shadows, his presence commanding and ominous.
"Who... who are you?" the masked man stammered.
The mysterious figure stepped forward, revealing himself. "I am Dr. Doom," he declared with a cold, menacing tone. In an instant, he dispatched the final assassin.
Dmitri, still in shock, watched as Dr. Doom approached him. The weight of his best friend's death and his father's betrayal bore down on him, leaving him feeling utterly broken.
Dr. Doom looked at Dmitri with a calculating smirk. "Do you want revenge?" he asked.
Dmitri, his eyes filled with a hollow emptiness, replied, "You... can you grant it?"
Dr. Doom nodded. "I can." He reached into his pocket and handed Dmitri a device. "Here, take this."
Dmitri looked at the device in his hand, a mix of confusion and desperation in his eyes. "What is this?"
"It's a shapeshifting device," Dr. Doom explained. "It can transform you into anything—animals, humans—anything except objects."
Dmitri's mind raced. "Why? Why are you giving me this?"
Dr. Doom's expression softened slightly. "You remind me of myself when I lost something precious. My wife died because of me."
Dmitri clenched the device tightly. "I don't care anymore. I don't care if this is a trick or not. I just want my revenge." He looked directly into Dr. Doom's eyes. "You said this can transform me into anything, right? Except objects."
Dr. Doom nodded. "Yes."
Dmitri's resolve hardened. "Good. That's all I needed to hear."
........
Two weeks later, Grand Duke Nikolai Kravinoff and the Grand Duchess Anna Makarova Kravinoff were in high spirits, having received news of Dmitri's death and the collapse of his business. Content and confident, they felt secure in their position. In their bedroom, they exchanged warm glances, ready to indulge in a moment of intimacy.
Nikolai, eager and unburdened, quickly undressed. "Ready, my dear?" he asked, his voice filled with anticipation.
Anna, equally ready, began to remove her clothes. "I'm ready," she replied, smiling seductively.
Unbeknownst to them, a mouse scurried behind them. In an instant, it transformed into a human figure—Mysterious figure. Silently, he drew a bow from his cloak, aiming it at the couple.
Nikolai, sensing movement, turned and gasped in shock. "Who are you?"
Anna screamed, but before they could react further, The Mysterious figure released two arrows, both tipped with a potent sleeping agent. The arrows struck Nikolai and Anna, rendering them unconscious.
When Nikolai awoke, he found himself tied up in a dimly lit basement. His head throbbed, and he struggled to focus. Anna was beside him, still asleep.
"Anna," he whispered, but there was no response. He tugged at his restraints, but they held firm.
The mysterious figure chuckled as Nikolai regained consciousness. "Ah, you're awake," he remarked, his voice laced with amusement.
Nikolai, bewildered, demanded, "Who are you?"
With a smirk, the figure replied, "Well, I suppose my mask interfere the reunion," and swiftly removed it.
Nikolai's eyes widened in recognition. "Dmitri!"
Dmitri's smirk remained. "Yes, Father, although I can't say I feel comfortable calling you that after what you've done."
Nikolai's gaze darted to his wife, still unconscious. "What have you done to her?" he asked, his voice tinged with concern.
Dmitri casually remarked, "Oh her, I just gave her another dose of sleeping sedative. She was the first one to wake up... you know how she can be a bit annoying, so I decided to let her rest a bit longer."
Turning his attention back to Nikolai, Dmitri's demeanor hardened. "Anyway, Why did you do it?"
Nikolai feigned innocence. "Do what?"
Dmitri scoffed. "Don't play dumb. I know you ordered those men to kill me."
Nikolai hesitated, then admitted, "I just wanted my family back together."
Dmitri let out a bitter laugh. "So I'm not family to you, huh?"
Nikolai's words cut like knives. "You're not. You're just a mistake I made after I fuck your slut mother."
Dmitri's expression darkened, his fists clenched. "Shut the fuck up!"
Closing the distance between them, Dmitri locked eyes with Nikolai, his grip tightening on his father's face. With a twisted smile, he uttered, "It's decided now. You'll pay for what you've done to me."
Nikolai's desperate pleas filled the dimly lit basement, his voice trembling with fear and pain. "N-nonono, don't please...forgive me, forgive me!"
Dmitri's expression remained stoic, his eyes devoid of any warmth or mercy. "Forgiveness?, No..there is no forgiveness, after you killed him, that's when the day you took everything from me," he retorted, his voice laced with bitterness. In one swift motion, he grabbed his knife, its sharp edge catching the faint light in the room. With chilling accuracy, he sliced through Nikolai's finger.
Nikolai's cry of pain echoed in the room as blood dripped from his mutilated hand.
Nikolai screamed in pain, his voice echoing loudly in the basement. "Aargh!" he cried out, the intense agony evident in his expression and voice, resonating off the damp walls.
Dmitri didn't stop despite Nikolai's cries. He kept slicing, each cut deep and deliberate, filling the air with the smell of blood and the sense of hopelessness.
Dmitri grabbed a burning-hot iron, its fiery surface glowing fiercely. He pressed it against Nikolai's shaking skin. The smell of burning flesh filled the room, mixing with Nikolai's loud screams of pain. Each cry showed just how much he was hurting.
As the minutes dragged on like an endless nightmare, Nikolai's strength began to falter, his body consumed by excruciating pain. "Please... don't kill me, please son, please Dmitri," he begged, his voice barely audible amidst the overwhelming agony.
Dmitri's laughter cut through the air like a knife, cold and devoid of remorse. "Son? Fuck you!" he spat, his words dripping with venom and hatred.
With a final, decisive motion, Dmitri met Nikolai's gaze, his eyes burning with an intensity that sent shivers down Nikolai's spine. "By the way I'm not Dmitri anymore. I am Chameleon," he declared, his voice tinged with a chilling resolve. With a swift flick of the wrist, he ended Nikolai's suffering, the blade slicing through his throat with a sickening sound.
Tears threatened to spill from Dmitri's eyes, but he held them back, his expression a mask of cold indifference. He had shed his humanity, embraced the darkness that now consumed him. He was Chameleon.
Leaving Nikolai's dead body behind, Dmitri turned towards Grand Duchess Anna Makarova Kravinoff. She remained unconscious, the effects of the drugs keeping her in a deep slumber. A sinister grin stretched across Dmitri's face as he leaned in close to her, his voice low and menacing.
"When you wake up and realize your husband is dead, you'll lose your mind," he whispered darkly. With those chilling words, he left Anna to her inevitable awakening, knowing she would be thrust into a waking nightmare and will turn into a crazy person.
.....
[Meanwhile Sergei Kravinoff]
With his father gone and his mother lost to madness, Sergei Nikolaievich Kravinoff finally felt free from the burdens of his family's demands. They'd never really cared for him; he was just a symbol to maintain their status. Now free from their influence, Sergei embraced his true nature and vowed to become the hunter he had always aspired to be. Thus, the legendary Kraven we know today was born, fueled by a desire to prove himself and carve out his own path in the world.
The End of Chameleon Backstory