Shinji Miromoto did not plan on becoming an anime villain clichŽ. In fact, he wanted to be a pilot. Or a mechanic. Or maybe an architect. To be honest, it really didnÕt matter. What DID matter was that none of these dreams included him cackling malignantly, wearing a charcoal grey uniform straight off of the bridge of a Star Destroyer, while the greater Tokyo metropolitan area burned in flames around him.

However, no one believed him.

You see, Shinji was an meta, whose power manifested itself quite tamely, in the middle of the night, in his 13th year. This, in and of itself, was not the reason his family and peers viewed his existence with suspicion; many in Japan were meta-active, and many had gone on to national or international fame, brining honor on their families for their heroic deeds. No, the issue that was so divisive about the eldest Miromoto scion was that his power allowed him to access Dark Energy: the very force that every magical girl sentai team seemed able to sense and associate with evil, deprivation, and in one extremely odd case, tentacle monsters.

After the 3rd time a devil hunter interrupted dinnertime to Òslay the foul demon that dared intrude on ourÉoh, terribly sorry, have you seen an evil sorcerer around here somewhereÓ, ShinjiÕs parents insisted he stop doing whatever it was he was doing to attract such unwanted attention, and get a real hobby. As the only thing he could think that he was doing was breathing, or perhaps reading hentai manga, Shinji decided to get professional help.

The local Buddhist temple didnÕt help. The Shinto shrine was a wash as well, as was the Daoist priest he found in the phone book. (He briefly considered tracking down a Catholic church of some kind, but figured theyÕd try to crucify him, or something.) At wits end, he finally realized that the only people who knew how to control this kind of thing seemed to be, well, villains. With that in mind, seeking out a mentor was surprisingly simple: watching the news for the latest villain to attempt to destroy Tokyo Tower was easy enough. After that, it was mainly an issue of tracking down said supervillian, not getting killed, and convincing him (or her, as this was the 21st century after all) to become his sensei.

After several embarrassing events, near-death experiences, and a firm reputation established as a complete weirdo, Shinji managed to gain an audience with the Ginshou, an upcoming villain whose last competent flunky managed to get himself incarcerated during a battle with the ÒFlower Petal FiveÓ, or something like that. Shinji never really got the specifics, and Ginshou never really filled them in. Regardless, Shinji pledged his loyal service to Ginshou (as long as it didnÕt interfere too much with his schoolwork), in return for training in the Dark Arts.

As it turns out, ShinjiÕs mentor was not long for this world. While Shinji was able to make some progress over control of his powers, Ginshou became more and more obsessed with the discovery of the ÒSilver QueenÓ, who was some sort of being Ginshou claimed to have had a vision of. His plans for discovering this creature became more and more unhinged, and seemed to attract the kind of attention that Shinji knew entirely too well. Seeing the writing on the wall, Shinji began laying plans.

When Sparkling Mystic Princess Mia managed to hit Ginshou with a Purifying Heart Punch during their climactic battle over Yokohama harbor, Shinji was quietly photocopying the spellbooks and shredding the evidence. When the police arrived, Shinji was ÒfoundÓ along with 23 other junior high students, who Ginshou had kidnapped to power his Dark Soul Ascension Process. Whatever that was; Shinji was never quite sure, and suspected that neither did the G-man. Regardless, Ginshou, who turned out to be a 42-year old accountant from Hokkido with a Sailor Moon fetish, slipped into a coma and died soon after, never revealing the name of his sometimes-protŽgŽ who had assisted him in his criminal endeavors.

This process repeated itself over the next several years: Shinji would find himself a Dark Mentor, would study under them for some time while providing loyal minion service, only to watch as they undid all their carefully-laid plans in some foolish and unlikely scheme for power. In time, Shinji began to suspect that either people who used Dark Energy were inherently insane, or there was something about Dark Energy that made them such. This belief was confirmed by Red Witch Shiko, ShinjiÕs fourth Dark Mentor Ð she showed him several texts, when she wasnÕt cackling on about her inevitable conquest over the Lovely Knights of Azuria, which discussed the nature of Dark Energy.

As it turned out, there were two main schools of thought on Dark Energy. One theory was that the energy in question is simply an element native to one of the realms of Yetzirah, the Astral World. The name came from the idea that the energy native to that plane was easily controlled by the ÒdarkerÓ emotions: rage, anger, hatred, and so on. Thus, those with hatred in their hearts, as well as the magical or psychic means to access alternate dimensions, would naturally gravitate towards using Dark Energy in their rituals. The alternate theory was that the plane in which Dark Energy originated was quite easy to access, but the Energy itself caused malignant feelings in the users, thus driving such users insane even as they grow more skilled in the manipulation of its power. (The third option, that Dark Energy is simply another name for Qliphothic energy, is something Shinji quickly decided to forget he ever even read.)

Shinji never asked why Shiko got into using Dark Energy; at that point, he was once again at KinkoÕs while the Dark Mistress got her Dark Arse handed to her by the aforementioned Lovely Knights. Still, in the now-familiar ÔprisonerÕ debriefing with TokyoÕs Metahuman Response Squad #3, Shinji pondered this new information. He still had no desire to set fire to Tokyo, and yet he had been steeped in Dark Energy for well on three years; according to Shiko, she had been playing with it for only seven months before their encounter. Thus, he thought as he sipped coffee in the stationhouse, it seems as though Shiko was at least wrong in some specifics. (As an aside, his claim to being kidnapped repeatedly by various supervillians was met not with skepticism by the Tokyo PD, but with reserved understanding and light-natured kidding Ð it seems that some people are, in fact, villain magnets, and Shinji was able to claim to be one of them.)

Over the next two Dark Masters, Shinji put his theory to the test, delving more deeply into Dark Energy than he had before. And, while he confirmed that everyone ELSE was becoming unhinged in proportion to their use of Dark Energy, he seemed fine. In that, he realized what his power was: not to control Dark Energy, although he had that in moderation, but to be immune to its insanity-causing effects.

Unfortunately, the experiments done to confirm this immunity were not without their costs. As it turns out, his last Mentor had boasted of the quality of ShinjiÕs service and loyalty at that yearÕs Dark Congress. So, in addition to having several Dark Generals vie for his service, (which was actually quite flattering, in a creepy ÒI hope they donÕt torture my parents as an incentive for me to joinÓ sort of way) he had picked up what he had longed dreaded: a rival.

Fire-Fire Yuki was a Category 3 (personal vendetta against the forces of darkness), Power level 2 (could throw around cars and cut through plate steel), Power Source 4 (mystic artifact) Devil Hunter, at least according to the Shinji Scale of Metahuman Psychos. Her clever plan was to use a villain-magnet, such as what Shinji claimed to be, as a stalking horse, in an attempt to lure out villainy. Her theory was that such victims should be grateful for her protection, despite the fact that she was more destructive in her attempts to ÔsaveÕ them than most villains ever were. (The traditional Dark Energy attack is to drain its victims of their life energy. In contrast, Fire-Fire YukiÕs traditional attack was to set her victimÕs house on fire. Three guesses which one does less damage to property values.) The fact that Yuki was an arrogant ass, fully convinced of the righteousness of her cause, and a bully to boot, didnÕt help much. Shinji had caught her attention in his dramatic ÔescapeÕ from The Rotting Hell (actually quite nice, as lairs go: the ventilation he helped install took care of the smell), and decided that he needed her protection more than most. The results were unpleasant.

Everyone knew what happened; the news crew that showed up a third of the way through caught most of the fight. However, like many thing in ShinjiÕs life, it was depressingly anticlimactic. A stray fireball (the press would later call it Òa near-missÓ), a gas station already damaged by a mystic sword (a Ònoble blow that nearly felled the villainÓ) and a nearby high-tension power line (a Òtragic accidentÓ) resulted in one dead magic girl. Suddenly, it wasnÕt funny any more. Shinji wasnÕt the loyal flunky, or the humorous sidekick, or the constant victim, or the butt of the station housesÕ jokes. He had been playing both sides for years, and now he was Response SquadÕs #3Õs number one target.

He ran.

The resulting investigation ultimately cleared him of the murder of Yuki Nakamura: it was fairly easy to reconstruct exactly what had happened, and the magical girl community was curiously reserved in their hunt for the Ôblack sorcererÕ who had defeated one of their own. However, where he had gained such power to fight off a magical girl had come under scrutiny, and his secret life was laid open in the press. Several mid-level officials resigned over the resulting scandal, and Response Squad #3 was disbanded, their resources split amongst the other Response Squads. ShinjiÕs parents were disgraced, and had to move to Kyoto to get away from the press coverage.

Shinji was never found.

Four years later, Shinji Miromoto appeared on the files of the US Federal government as a naturalized citizen. No one involved has mentioned how he was able to gain such status, and his file has been sealed. When asked, the case worker assigned to Shinji just grimaced and replied that is was "a technicality." Thus, Shinji was able to, for the first time in four years, seek gainful employment. However, the job market for ex-villianous lieutenents is somewhat short. So, he began to shop around...

Shinji Miromoto used to be a slightly-ironic, mildly-bitter, somewhat-petty, but mostly milquetoast Japanese teenager. He could have not gone back to his second Dark Master: he had already learned by that point how to shield his energies from casual detection. However, it gave him something do, and made him feel special and superior to his family and classmates. His own immunity also let him feel superior to the Dark Generals, as they went mad from the power and ultimately got themselves killed or captured. It was a youthful belief in his own immortality that blinded him to the dangers of associating with such unbalanced minds. Now, he knows better: a girl died, on national television, and his face was shown as the guilty party. Karma has turned its wheel, the damage has been done, and dharma must be paid.

With that burden, Shinji is a much more humble and wise person than he was those three years ago. He believes himself culpable, if not directly for the death of Yuki, then for the circumstances in which they both found themselves on that day. He is still the slightly-ironic person he once was, but has had enough experiences to understand the suffering that pride brings about. He doesnÕt believe that he has to make any great amends for his wrong-doings: Rather, it was the pride, pettiness, and arrogance that went along with his actions that he feels he needs to expound from his soul. He has thus turned to a form of pragmatic Buddhism, and seeks to address his karma by opposing the injustices caused by pride and arrogance whenever he can. He also tries to avoid angst or romantic posturing, as it reminds him too much of the overly-dramatic magical girls that he had to put up with in his youth.

"Hey! You stop now! No make me open can of 7th Hell Withering Darkness on ass!"

"Good lord, I sound like an idiot."

Shinji is an metahuman with the ability to manipulate Dark Energy, which is probably a significantly diluted form of quipthopic energy, filtered through a node in Shinji's brain. (Shinji really hopes it isn't.) He also is immune to the long-term side effects of exposure to having Dark Energy course through oneÕs brain, the most common of which include paranoid schizophrenia and brain aneurysms. His actual power level, compared to most Dark Generals, is actually middling; it seems that his native immunity to Dark Energy inhibits his ability to channel such energy somewhat. Even as someone who has been controlling Dark Energy for almost six years, he is only now approaching the same level as one of his original mentors. For Shinji, this is fine: better the slow road to excellence, even in something such as this, than the quick route to insanity.

For the past two years, in addition to hiding out in various monestaries across Asia, Shinji has been studying the relationship between his own Dark Energy and the paths of Chi within his own body. In conjunction with several instructors, he has begun integrating both forces within him; this has lead to mixed results, as both forces seem somewhat opposed to each other, and do not seem to be able to combine. Regardless, he has made some progress in his advancement of both of his Arts.

ShinjiÕs Spellbook

Shinji MiromotoÕs ÒspellbookÓ is in fact a series of books, treatises, photocopied grimories, scrawled notes, DVD recordings, as well as most of the back issues of ÒDark Congress QuarterlyÓ. (He got a long-term subscription as part of his incentive package on one of his Loyal Lieutenant gigs, and somehow, the current issues keep showing up in his bookcase. ItÕs actually quite informative, and itÕs how Shinji keeps his relevant KSÕs from atrophying.) Anyway, ShinjiÕs effects can be broken up into three categories: combat powers, rituals, and artifacts.

¥ Combat powers are essentially modifications of his Dark Melee powerset: different hand-to-hand attacks, additional psychic shielding, and variations on his teleportation ability (group teleport, teleport foe, etc.). All combat powers have the same Dark Psychic Power limitation, which causes them to be Ôknocked downÕ if he ever gets stunned. Powers which directly affect someoneÕs mind may also cause Dark Taint.

¥ Rituals are primarily powers that summon or empower allies. Such allies are some sort of reflections of some of shinji's personality, and include loyal Pawns, intelligent Knights, or murderous Queens. They also include various command and control powers for these constructs. There are also some miscellaneous powers, such as Dark Reflections (a lengthy scrying ritual) and Feel the MasterÕs Hand (detects the amount of Dark Taint on someone.)

¥ Artifacts are objects of psychic importance that have been empowered with Dark Energy. They act as circuit breakers and surge suppressors, and thus allow Shinji to empower others without the risk of Taint, or to use his own powers without worrying about loosing them due to getting bonked on the noggin. Shinji also uses Artifacts for large-scale defensive measures that he can power when he is nearby. (ie, temporary Base powers.) Such artifacts take time to create, and keying an artifact to another is often a painful process. (Such as embedding a piece of black quartz in the subjectÕs chest. Yes, itÕs as painful as it sounds.)

There is also a fourth category: the IÕm not Dumb Enough to Try These powers. This includes powers that Shinji is fairly certain that he could perform, but in no way, shape, or form, is willing to try. This includes Empower Youma (change unwilling victim into insane berserker of destruction), Dark Haven (gate to the Dark Dimension), and Puppet Master (direct mind control). He hasnÕt thrown these books away yet, as they contain information that is actually fairly useful in understanding how Dark Energy works, but thatÕs like saying that taking a hammer to an antique pocketwatch is ÔusefulÕ in determining how it operates. Sure, you can see the inner workings, but at the end of the day, youÕre left with a broken pile of springs and cogs. In fact, the writeups of the powers themselves warn that the use of such powers very often results in the death of the psychic or mage who attempts such things. As each edition of Dark Congress Quarterly has a four-page section devoted to such rituals, Shinji is assuming that they exist to weed out the terminally stupid.

Shinji is an unassuming Japanese man in his early 20's. His athletic frame, still honed from the kempo he practices daily, tends to be hidden with the baggy clothing he now prefers. His once-close-cropped hair has grown out slightly, but is still fairly short. He is also compulsively clean, a habit he picked up from his overbearing mother. On occasion he may adorn the tailored grey uniform and black trench coat of his Loyal Lieutenant days. His face is rather blockish, and looks as though he's been punched in the face a few too many times.