Gerald Chevalier

Gerald Chevalier is a notorious white puffle criminal, wanted in four states by the EPF and AIA for multiple counts of theft and robbery. His partnership with influential corporate executive Mark Nadoff has prevented justice from being served to him many, many times, which annoys the law enforcement to no end.

He is frequently bailed out, or aquitted because some "new evidence" showed up because an "anonymous source" provides new evidence to the contrary. (The judge later conveniently deposited a check in his or her bank account.)

Background
In Olde Antarctica, around 1960, the Fire Kingdom had begun its attack on the other kingdoms of Olde Antarctica. On Ross Island, which was at that point a Fire Kingdom territory, a laboratory had been set up for military experiments. The hostile penguins that lived there were either hired or scared into submission by the Fire Kingdom's military might.

Scientists were attempting to create the perfect animal superweapon. They decided to base their creation off puffles, which were easily tamed, lightweight, and not too demanding of resources. After months of trials, the scientists eventually ventured to the capital, where they presented their creation to the king. It was a compacted puffle with white fur, ninja-like fighting skills, and the ability to freeze objects.

Unfortunately, the king was unimpressed, and rejected the weapon because it controlled an "inferior element". The scientists were forced to dispose of the white puffle batches. Most of them were capable of caring for themselves in the wild, but the ones that weren't had to be put into stasis. They were sealed away in a warehouse next to the laboratory.

Years passed by. Olde Antarctica gave way to Colonial Antarctica by the 1990s. By this point, Ross Island had become a territory of King Greg, albeit an undisturbed one. When the kings merged their lands and colonies together, the laboratory remained under the new government's control. The laboratory had long been decommissioned, but it was still open and running, just not developing anything. The government wanted to rid itself of it, because it did nothing and cost the government a fortune. However, because Ross Island was still a "secret" from the OA days, it just kept sucking away money and burdening him. (This was one of the several "wastes of money" mentioned by Canren's ancestor when she woke everyone up that one night.)

He couldn't have lucked out any better when he heard that Carl Arnott "discovered" Ross Island in 1990. Considering it had been a secret since the 1950s (or earlier, since the last time it was found before the lab was by a human), Carl would normally have been prosecuted for tresspassing, but instead, he decided to not only not prosecute Carl, but give him Ross Island instead. Carl was elated and began constructing his dream, bringing wealth and prsperity to the now solvent island and finally ridding the government of its burden.

The laboratory remained in operation, taken care of this time around by the new government of Ross Island. They didn't have the heart to tear it down, but they kept trying to sell it to anyone that asked for it. It was then that a shrewd Adelie named Marky S. McPengy purchased the land, and the lab. He renamed it the Supply Shop and made a few very minor adjustments, such as cutting a window out of the front and setting a counter and workspace for him to hawk his junk wares. The rest of the building was untouched, because Marky was too lazy and didn't need all that room. (He got the place for a bargain, but the electricity bill would later show him why.)

Marky's store began selling all sorts of trinkets and cheap wares. Marky constantly scoured the island for items to sell in his store. It was when the electricity bill arrived, he was astonished that his little shop could require all of that. He reasoned that there must be something big in the rest of the Supply Shop. He had half a mind to go and unplug the thing right then and there, but he recalled that this wooden building was initially a secret laboratory. There was good money in that, and it may finally drive customers away from his sworn rival!

Waddling into the back of the Shop, Marky found several dozen stasis chambers. Each had a white puffle suspended in it, connected to feeding abd breathing tubes that had been fucntioning for the past forty years. (Up until the selling of the Supply Shop, all of the scientists remained because of the local job market. They were all fired because Marky was too cheap.)

He knew a good investment when he saw one, so he tracked down the fired scientists, who provided him instructions on maintaining the stasis chambers. He was surprised at how easy (but costly) maintenance of those things were, but he had barely enough startup cash to keep the chambers working for about three weeks. He hoepd he'd charge a lot, because his wares wouldn't cover it and he'd have to rid himself of the chambers; this was something he did not want to do.

Now, he needed to get customers. There was only one heavy-duty socket in the storefront, so he chose a random stasis chamber to display in the front. This one was Gerald's chamber. Tacking a cheesy sign reading "SEE THE TOP SECRET GOVERNMENT-MADE MUTANT FLOATING ALBINO PUFFLES!!!" to his shop, he waited for conspiracy theorists and other naive tourists.

It worked, somewhat. Yet, the average revenues from the tours were only enough to buy about an extra week of stasis chamber electricity, a mere fourth of his monster bill. Marky feared what was logical: he would have to rid himself of the puffles by the end of that final week.

It was at the end of the month, a mere week before he'd have to sell off, that a wealthy corporate executive by the name of Mark Nadoff happened across the Supply Shop while on vacation in the Sub-Antarctic Islands. Mark was a collector of doodads and gadgets, and the Supply Shop had just what he was looking for. Mark sat down with Marky over a cup of coffee.

"You know, I really admire what you've done here," he remarked.

"Thanks," Marky replied sheepishly, glancing at the Supply Shop. "I'm pretty proud of it m'self."

"I mean, selling trash as a product? How do you pull it off?"

"Luck, I guess. Heh heh." Marky wasn't exactly versed in business.

"I wish I had your kind of luck," Mark sighed wistfully. "It's not easy, being a guy like me..."

"That's a pity, there," said Marky, not entirely sincere.

"Well, dealing in my business gives one special... ah, perks," Mark explained with a smirk. "Say, how would you like to share some of my profits? It couldn't hurt you that much, and you need something to help your store along."

"Well, shucks!" Marky said, surprised. "That's fine, but what do you get in return?"

"Crud,", Mark thought, "This penguin actually understands basic deal making. Can't just 'give' stuff away..."

"Nothing. I don't mind losing a bit of cash." Mark lied, sipping his coffee and trmoving out his checkbook.

"I don't trust ya. Surely you gotta get somethin' in return." Marky insisted. "I mean, I may not be the smartest penguin, but I know how to run a shop. Now tell me, whadda'ya want?"

There was a pause.

"Well, if you can't think of anything, how 'bout I offer that doohickey in the corner?"

The two penguins turned towards the stasis chamber. Mark whistled.

"I'd say that's worth about a million coins," he said, nodding. "Top-notch tech you've got there. Where'd you find it?"

"Came with the place."

"............."

"No, it actually CAME with the Shop. The buildin', that is. They were almost desperate to get rid-uh it."

Mark raised his eyebrows for a split second, stroking his the facial hair under his beak in deep thought.

"Sadly, the mutant puffle thingamajiggers cost quite a bit to run. It's amazing how much 'lectricity they need. If I can't think of some big money maker soon, I'll have to sell them all... -and that's just a total waste-uh money."

Mark felt sympathetic at the idea of poor, lost money.

"I'll pay a million for one." Mark stated plainly.

"A million coins?!" Marky cried, in awe. "GOLLY THAT'S A LOT! It'll pay 'em for 'bout ten months or so!"

"I see you're interested," Mark said, smiling a bit. "Do we have a deal?"

"Deal!" The two shook flippers, the check was written and signed, and the stasis chamber was unplugged and tied to one of Mark's trucks.

Before they left, though, Mark called back out to him.

"Don't worry about the electricity bills. I'll take care of those for you. Take it as thanks for this chamber."

Mark turned back into the truck and snickered. Just one of those things was worth at least a few billion. What a STEAL!

"Sucker!"

Mark and his caravan of cars drove back to Pengu Town, intending to catch the Antarctic Express back to Polaris. Before they boarded the train, the stasis chamber was put in a special mail car. To prevent the puffle inside from drowning once its battery (which was already very low) drained, Mark put it in a sack and brought it with him on the first-class car.

It was there that the puffle first awoke.

Making small squeaking noises, it quickly scrambled out of the bag, paused, and looked at Mark, who gave it a quick glance. The puffle, not knowing what else to do, retreated back into the bag and filled it with frost.

After a while, Mark made it back to Polaris. He carried the puffle up to his corner office.

Gerald let his curiosity get the best of him, and he got out and hopped onto Mark's desk. He looked at Mark with a look ("The Look") that won over even Mark and his hardened heart. Mark decided to keep the puffle as a pet.

After going away on a "meeting", Mark came back to see his office trashed, apparently done so by Gerald. Mark yelled, but calmed down and decided to research Gerald's origins and why he was in the chamber to begin with.

A little string pulling, some bribes to bureaucrats, and a lot of red tape later, Mark managed to have the freshly declassified papers on Gerald placed on his desk. Mark learned that Gerald was programmed to be a biological super weapon, but the Fire Kingdom no longer stood. Mark was intrigued at this, and considered using it to his advantage. Yet, that look of innocence and trust Gerald kept staring him down with actually caused him to feel guilty about doing that.

Mark was the first thing that Gerald had seen in fifty years. Gerald, having known nothing beforehand, thought that Mark was the coolest thing in the world. Mark had compassion on this puffle and decided to raise it as his own.

Naturally, this puffle's lack of any prior knowledge in the world made him easily manipulable...

TO BE CONTINUED

As a robber
Gerald is one of the country's most dangerous robbers. No safe is safe; no lock holds; no vault is secure. Gerald is known for his signature technique of freezing a lock until it's brittle enough to shatter. Anyone else who gets in his way usually ends up trapped in solid ice.

Gerald primarily robs banks, but has been known to pilfer paintings, pottery, furniture, or other valuable artifacts. The EPF believes that he sells these objects to pawnbrokers using multiple aliases. The profit is then laundered by Mark until it can't be traced at all, and is then split evenly between the two partners.

Partnership with Mark
Being close friends, Gerald and Mark often work together to generate more $$$. When not out on one of his "jobs", Gerald can be seen following Mark around, carrying out errands for him. Mark also has a special phone line (Line #7) in his office for contacting Gerald.

Mark is the reason Gerald never gets fair punishment. Whenever he gets tried, "new evidence" pops up at the last second, and the judge sponetaneously begins to favor the defense... Even if Gerald is successfully found guilty and incarcerated, he is always bailed (or bribed) out. Thanks to Mark's wealth, Gerald has never served a full sentence.

Control of smaller crime rings
TO BE CONTINUED

Appearance/Description
Gerald is a white puffle. He's extremely sensitive to light, so he wears sunglasses to block out snow glare. Gerald also wears a small, grey "suit" of sorts (made by one of Mark's tailors), with a hot pink bowtie. His suitcase, which contains some of his burgling tools, is also white, and has a compass-like emblem on both sides, also colored hot-pink. Gerald also carries around a telescoping, spear-like lance, with which he is very skilled in fighting.

Gerald is often silent, with a grim expression on his face. His sunglasses often obscure any emotional expressions of his eyes, and his voice is monotone. He speaks in short, simple sentences. All of this behavior was intentionally conditioned into the original white puffles, intended to prevent the Fire Kingdom's enemies from extracting information from the puffles with interrogation. Even today, most of the people Gerald meets find it hard to tell what he's thinking.

Trivia

 * Gerald is a (loose) parody of Galacta Knight, from Kirby Super Star Ultra.