Birth of the Devil

Grendel is not the only alias of the dashing author known as Hunter Rose. Rose's real name is unknown, but he admits that before becoming Hunter Rose he was known as Eddie. As a child Eddie grew up in an unnamed suburb in a middle-class American household. Eddie's curse was his brilliance. He was not only adept at, but excelled at virtually everything he tried his hand at. Because no one, not even his parents, truly understood him he felt bored and alone. When Eddie took up fencing he won the world championship in England at only fourteen. That is where he met Jackie (Jocasta Rose). Jackie was a stunningly beautiful trainer of the English team, and was taken in with Eddie's speed and style as a fencer. Despite being over twenty years his senior, Jackie and Eddie began a romantic relationship. Their relationship was passionate. Eventually people stopped looking for Eddie. She taught him of life, the fight, and "the game". She considered life to be one big game, and it was the thrill that pushed her onward. The two continued their passion for fencing together.

Jackie's death came suddenly for Eddie. Jackie had been terminally ill, and had known that she was since before the two even met. She never disclosed to Eddie what she was, nor did she show any sign of its comming. Her end came swiftly, and her arrangements had been made a year prior. In this one event Eddie lost everything that he had, everything that he cared about. It was then that he would reject the idea of fate, choosing to forge his own destiny with purpose.

After Jackie's death Eddie moved back to America. His parents had died in his absence, and Eddie began listening closely to organized crime. Eddie intended to continue Jackie's game, and doing whatever he found challenging. Within a month of arriving back in the states he had written his first novel. For this he had fabricated a new public identity in the form of Hunter Rose, only demonstrating again the profound effect Jocasta had on his life. By this time the young boy that was Eddie was only a memory. Eddie also secretly kept his ear close to the criminal underworld. He listened to a contract being delivered, and before the hitman could make his move, he had slain the two marks. Masked and armed, Eddie showed up to the office of the man that had taken out the contracts, Theodore "Teddy Boy" Ciccone, and killed the other hitman in front of him while delivering lines from Alice in Wonderland. Theodore was impressed and hired the masked assassin.

As the masked assassin he had taken up the name Grendel. As Grendel he struck fear into the hearts of those he encountered, and took a forked staff as his weapon. As Hunter Rose he became a best-selling author and a prominent, wealthy socialite within the city's elite crowd. At a party Rose encountered someone that remembered him as Eddie due to the white patch of his hair. Rose killed him in cold blood in order to protect his identity, and signed the crime scene with his normal calling card: a "G" made from the blood of his victim.

When Grendel's employer began to become nervous about not knowing who was underneath Grendel's mask, Ciccone set an elaborate trap for Grendel. Grendel was not tricked by the obvious set up, but decided to spring the trap out of curiosity. Grendel killed all of Ciccone's hired goons, then set after Ciccone himself. He decided to allow Ciccone to live, and to continue running his business. Grendel, however, would take the top position within the organization and become Ciccone's boss.

Ciccone grew to not mind the arrangement because under Grendel's ruthless leadership income tripled within the first year. Grendel would clean up Ciccone's business by cutting out business dealings that he found distasteful, particularly child prostitution and PCP dealings.

The Devil's Daughter

Later, Rose would be contacted by Barry Palumbo. Barry was contacted by Argent the wolf. Grendel and Argent had not yet met, but due to their reputations he considered their eventual meeting inevitable. Argent wanted Barry to help set a trap for Grendel. Barry contacted Grendel to explain his meeting with Argent, and how he had a business interest in working with Grendel. He then contacted Argent again and told him that things were proceeding according to plan. It is unknown what ends Barry sought by his attempts to deceive both Grendel and Argent, but the intended double-cross was evident by his actions.

Barry's Death

At a party attended by Rose, Barry would die of poisoning. He had met with both Grendel and Argent prior that day. Rose was the second to discover the murder, finding Barry's adopted niece, Stacy Palumbo in a shocked state by the body. Rose had grown fond of the young girl (coincidentally Argent had too), and made the mistake of attempting to save her from what had happened. Rose had poisoned the treacherous Barry, but did not intend for Stacy to become involved. Quickly turning into his alter ego, Rose kidnapped Stacy before he could be caught by the other party guests or the now arriving police force.

Argent had been called in by the police, and by some luck came across the side of the house that Rose was attempting to escape through. Rose and Argent, in their first official meeting, would fight each other ferociously. Grendel wielded his electrified, forked staff while Argent was quite deadly even unarmed. Grendel would manage to injure Argent, and escape while the gardens they fought in burned. Grendel did not wish to kill Argent (and by doing so end the game that he so enjoyed), and let Argent live.

Grendel's problems would grow when he discovered that Stacy's body was taken while she was unconscious. Grendel found a cabby that had witnessed a man taking Stacy, extracted the necessary description, and killed the cabby for not intervening. Grendel quickly tracked down the pedophile's apartment, scaled the fire escape, and killed him in one powerful blow of his staff.

Grendel new that with Hunter Rose, Stacy, and Grendel having been absent from the party (and Argent having seen Grendel with Stacy) that the police would easily determine what had occurred. He put Stacy in the garden where he fought Argent away from the blaze so that no one would question her ever having left, and re-entered the party dressed as Rose. It was there he met Larry Stohler, underestimated gossip of the criminal underworld. Larry had pieced together what had happened, and purposefully threw the police off Rose's tail. Larry planted cyanide pills in the purse of Barry's girlfriend so they would have an easy suspect. When Larry told Rose of what he had done, Rose decided to include Larry in his dealings. As a constant source of information, Larry would prove an invaluable resource to Rose and Grendel. After the dust had settled, and Barry's girlfriend was condemned for his murder, Rose applied for adoption of Stacy.

While under Rose's care, Stacy continued to be also nurtured by Argent. Argent would often visit before he believed Rose would be coming home. Rose would use this fact to his advantage. He would occasionally come home early and "accidentally" catch Argent off guard, and would drop subtle hints about the pair's social engagements to ensure that Argent would be there.

Argent continued the pursuit of Grendel, with Grendel always one step ahead. His hatred of Grendel only grew. A sting operation was arranged for Argent to apprehend several of Grendel's men unloading an illegal shipment on the docks. The completely bloodless apprehension was highly publicized by the police department in order to improve Argent's public image. Rose saw this as a blatant publicity stunt.

At one point an informant came forward to the police with information that for the first time in recent history, Grendel was taking a job for a hired hit again against a Hollywood mogul with several enemies in the city. Because of the nature of the informant, the police as well as Argent believed him. On the night the hit was supposed to take place a party was being held. There was a plainclothes police detail outside the manner to search entering vehicles. If Grendel did arrive undetected, Argent would be hiding in the darkness of the grounds waiting. During the party Argent caught Grendel's scent on the roof of the house, and he spotted Grendel over a window. Rushing to catch his enemy, Argent found that there was no one there and crashed through a skylight. Argent's graceless fall was seen by all spectators of the party, including Rose and young Stacy. It would later be discovered that Grendel had placed a hologram generator as well as a device that would release his scent on a timer on the mansion which fooled the Wolf.

Stacy was disheartened at the sight of Argent's plummet, and became withdrawn. Their relationship waned until finally they no longer saw each other or spoke. What Rose had not planned for or intended was the effect that losing Argent would have on Stacy. Afterward, Stacy always seemed just a little bit sadder, and nothing Rose did would cure her. The incident's effect on Argent was also obvious. The loss of Stacy's companionship made Argent angrier than before, and he continued to grow more violent while carrying out his normal duties. Grendel's criminal organization continued to grow, with more and more under his control all the time. Anyone that stands in his way is killed. Rivals are otherwise often brought under his control, as are individuals not directly involved in crime that Grendel can use. Any businesses not controlled by Grendel are generally things he dislikes: child prostitution, real estate moguls, evangelistic fraud, and PCP dealers. Many of these are found and rooted out as well. He would also continue to make hits on rival businessmen, particularly those who dealt in such offensive business. One such individual was Everett Christie, a city official that ran child prostitution within the city. Rose contacted Argent, taunting that he was going to kill Christie. Rose attended a party with Christie, and when he was alone changed into his alter ego and murdered him. Afterward Argent and Grendel battled again, but still to no great conclusion.

Beginning of the End

With things going well for Rose, he decided to expand his territory. His goal was to control all organized crime from Montreal to Cleveland to Canada. He would remain in New York City, where he would run everything. Larry returned from a fourteen month information gathering trip with much to talk about. They decided to unleash their plan. Rose and Larry did much of their planning and working at Roses own home. After Stacy was put into bed they would have the opportunity to work alone, without anything to bother them. Larry arrived one evening with recording equipment which would be used to record a message as Grendel to be delivered to various police precincts.

What neither Rose nor Larry realized was that Stacy had stayed up late that night to see what Larry had brought. She overheard the voice of her Uncle Hunter, in a cold tone that she barely recognized calling himself Grendel. On the night of the "Seaboard Massacre" Grendel would order the deaths of 23 major criminal heads all along the eastern coast. Grendel had the recordings of himself flown to all of the major cities where the massacre took place, and each copy was phoned in to the police quickly after the murders took place. In this one move Grendel would be able to spread his dominion even farther.

Meanwhile, Stacy sought to find out more about Grendel, and attempted to do research on Grendel at her school. When this failed to turn up any information, she was able to find out everything she needed at the local library. What she found was the darkness that Rose hid as Grendel, and she again fell into depression. At the time Rose just ignored it and expected it to go away. These days he was extremely busy ruling the entire east coast, and didn't see as much of Stacy. Instead, Rose hired a nanny that would spend time with Stacy. Stacy did not want this for herself, as an outsider would only get in the way of her plans. During a walk Stacy pushed her nanny off a pier. She could not swim and quickly drowned. Rose began to notice a positive change in Stacy.

Stacy continued to spy on Rose and eventually learned where his safe was located. After gaining access to the safe she located a device which would allow her to break into it. Within the safe she would find detailed accounts of the true dealings of Hunter Rose, and the secrets that he had kept from her. She learned from his journals that Rose had poisoned Barry Palumbo, and that Barry's girlfriend was framed for a crime that she did not commit. Still unknown to Rose, Stacy would begin to plot out his demise. In order to do this she would use Argent as a weapon against Grendel.

With access to all of Grendel's notes, ledgers, and journals, Stacy had access to all of his personal and business dealings. She began to phone in anonymous tips to Argent's private line. Argent made good on the information, and left a bloody trail through Grendel's criminal empire. Rose began to become angry and paranoid, not understanding how Argent could seemingly predict his moves before they were even planned.

One evening Stacy set the final wheels of her plan in motion. She made a call as herself to Argent's private line, screaming and crying. She told Argent that Grendel had kidnapped her. Despite a lack of contact, Argent still cared greatly for Stacy, and was enraged. Minutes later she phoned him again as the anonymous contact with information. Argent found one of Grendel's counterfeiting operations, slaughtering everyone inside except for one that was to deliver a message to Grendel. When Grendel received this message he called Argent and the two angrily arranged a meeting on the roof of the masonic temple.

Final Battle

Grendel would meet Argent alone for this final battle. When the police came to the scene later they would discover Argent, badly wounded and paralyzed from a spinal injury. Nearby they would also discover the slain and unmasked body of Grendel. Hunter Rose's death was made public and his identity as Grendel was now known. This would not be the end of Grendel.

Stacy would go on to be institutionalized, would be raped, and would have a child. This child, Christine Spar, would eventually contact her mother. She finds the location where Stacy hid the journals and logs of Grendel, and she would go on to take up the identity of Grendel herself. Where Rose would die on this fateful night, Grendel would continue to live on in various incarnations for centuries to come.

Powers

Hunter Rose possesses above genius level intelligence, due to a genetic mutation. He possesses what he describes as almost total recall. Brilliant, charismatic, and frightening, as Grendel he is also a skilled leader. Physically, Rose possesses peak human agility, reflexes, and stamina. He is an adept fighter, skilled in the use of a variety of weapons. He is particularly skilled with his weapon of choice, a staff with a forked blade on one end.

Weapons

Grendel is an ingenious inventor and uses his skills to make his weaponry and himself as deadly as possible. After adopting the identity Grendel, Rose chose to arm himself with a staff with a forked blade at the end in order to continue the demonic imagery surrounding Grendel. The forked blade retracts into the hilt, so that he can use the staff as a normal walking stick as Hunter Rose. Along with being razor sharp, the blades can be electrified with the push of a button located on the hilt (the charge of which does not last very long). The staff also contains a radio transmitter. Despite the long, razor-sharp steel blade as well as the complex circuitry built into the staff it is completely undetectable by metal detectors or x-rays so that it can remain completely hidden until Grendel chooses to strike.

His outfit also has several additional devices built in which aide him as Grendel. Special infrared lenses are carefully disguised in the eyes of his mask which give him the ability to see in the dark. His mask also projects tubes which insert into the nose and allow for a greatly heightened sense of smell. There are most likely similar apparatus for hearing within the mask.