Hey so this chapter is just a setup to the story. This is gonna be told in disjointed short stories telling the story of my OC, there will be humor, angst, and drama. Varvara means Strange or Weird. All rights belong to their creators.

Ch 1 Beginnings

When the invitation was left on Skulls makeup counter in his trailer he thought nothing of it, it was obviously just another piece of fan mail for the Immortal Stuntman. He'd get to it later. His body double on the other hand wasn't so dismissive. Something about the letter rubbed her the wrong way.

Varvara was 8 when she followed her then 16 year old brother figure Cherep to the circus. She watched as he made a name for himself as the Immortal Stuntman Skull De Mort doing death defying stunts for the pleasure of the crowds. She learned how to repair his bikes alongside him, and how to perform the same stunts to one day perform as a stunt duo when she turned 16. At only 15 years she was anxious to start performing.

She had always been more sensitive to the supernatural around her to the point she had actually kept the circus from making a bad business deal with some unsavory types a few years back. So when she laid eyes on the letter she knew it could only spell bad news for her brother.

She waited until her brother was heading out to prepare for the show tonight before taking the letter and opening it. She read the letter, each thinly veiled threat, every hidden promise of pain and ruin if the invitation to "the strongest seven" were to be ignored. She read every detail, making sure to memorize the date and time of the meeting, and began to plan.

The letter clearly wanted Skull De Mort, not Cherep. So they would get Skull De Mort. She started by tuning up her bike and packing what tools she would need for however long she would be gone. She then packed five of her uniforms and her makeup before leaving a note in Chereps trailer taped to the mirror itself. She left in the middle of the final act of the night, the stunt show.

When Cherep walked into his trailer an hour later he didn't expect it to be empty. He saw the note and dread filled his stomach as he reached a shaky hand to grab it.

My dearest Cherep, please don't be angry. I have chosen this path and nothing you could say would change my mind. You received a death threat a week ago, demanding Skull appear at a gathering far from civilization. I wouldn't be able to handle it if you were to die because you didn't take this seriously. Do not try to find me, I will come back when this is over. I love you, Varvara.

Cherep tore out of the trailer, his sisters name ripping out of his throat in a wail of anguish. He fell to his knees as the other carnies surrounded him in concern. She was long gone, no trace of her to track.

~line~

Varvara reflected on the days events thus far. She had stopped at the closest town to fix her looks to that of Skull De Mort before heading to the meeting spot. It was a large wooden building with a garage big enough for ten cars. Then she was almost shot at as she entered with Skulls customary exclamation of "The Great Skull-sama has arrived!"

It took ten minutes before she could stop peeking at the fedora man in fear at every movement he made. Then the letter sender arrived and introduced everyone to everyone else. She was sure he would call her out for not being the real Skull, but he seemed to just pass right over her. Then he declared they would be working together on a series of missions to build trust and teamwork between them. This sounded perfectly reasonable to her. Only for him to drop the bomb of the friggin MAFIA being real!

As it turns out, the weird sixth sense she got about people and the purple flames she would sometimes see emmanating from her and Cherep were supposed to be in the mafia, and they could be killed ig they told anyone else about them.

Now she was resting in the bedroom assigned to her for however long this team would last. Was she scared for her life? Absolutely. Would she change what she did? Absolutely not. As long as Cherep was safe, she would do this ten times over.