Beauty vs Beast
Sequel is written and will be published in March.
Beauty Stanza
The strongest woman in the Village of the Ridge, she wasn’t always this way. Dared/challenged by her friends to become strong, she chose to undergo the Acceptance ceremony. The strange alien magic gems accepted her and she wields them in the traditions of the village- which mainly involves hunting and lifting heavy things. Like her predecessors, she barely understands the gems, but they seem to understand her and regularly listen to her mind, acting in ways that help her in battle.
Beast/Cyberbeast
A veteran of the wars that destroyed his homeland, Beast today lives with his android charges in a castle built by Horus’ ancestors. Or is it a castle? As Beauty has seen inside, the castle and Beast are far more than meets the eye.
Beast undergoes a combat mode transformation into Cyberbeast, the real reason he is called Beast. In Cyberbeast mode, he grows claws, gains a devastating bite attack, runs up to 40kph, jumps four stories high, at the cost of sanity and skin protection. Parts of his endoskeleton appear due to the skin peeling from the stretching that transformation puts him through.
Gaston Stanza
A baby when his mother died during the wolf attack, Gaston quickly developed a love of reading and education. His big sister Beauty quickly fell behind him, leaving him the brain of the family. His studies into the history of the village proved helpful in Beauty’s training, for he was able to read Arclight’s poorly written poetry. 12 years old at the time Beauty left to fight The Beast.
Originally wore thick glasses, but thanks to lasik machines in the castle, his vision was repaired. To pay back the castle’s kindness, he has become a liaison between the castle and village. They plan to have him lead the village’s uplift project, turning the barely medieval level village into a proper modern marvel.
In later chapters, he proves vital to the defense of the village.
Horus (Android body)
The villagers call him a golem- a magical power being of stone. But Horus is neither stone nor magic. A survivor of the war with the Confederation of Trappist 1, he and his friends put their minds into android bodies to avoid dying to the viral strike. He and his friends started the village with the refugees encamped on the ridge. They woke up Cyberbeast from time to time to protect the village and assist the gem users.
A genius city planner before the war, Horus has used his time wisely to make future plans for the village. Sensing an opportunity thru Gaston and Beauty, he made them interns in exchange for saving their lives. He enjoyed teaching Gaston the basic sciences and history that the village no longer could teach themselves.
His senority and skill make him the de facto leader of the androids, but defers to Cyberbeast in a teasing manner by calling him Lord. They live in a castle after all.
Robo-Wolves
Cybernetic attack dogs built by the Confederation during the New Earth War 200 years before the events at the village. Their purpose was to target and kill infantry and citizens. Their secondary mission was to infiltrate enemy territory by pretending to be wildlife, then report their findings to the military.
In the story, someone has reopened the factories that churned out thousands of these monsters during the war and sent them after the village. A strong defense by the villagers ended their attack.
Cyberbeast Model V
Cyberbeast in his transformed state. In this state, his senses and computerized abilities are heightened. During heavy combat and under duress, his mind is shut down and he goes into "Killzone" protocol. In this mode, a cyberbeast cannot be reasoned with and will continue to kill until all enemies are destroyed or it is unable to fight.