Albert Ivors

Albert Ivors is a professional cage fighter, a 'job' that he inherited from his father Bjorn Ivors (who retired from the fighting ring). He is feared for his physical prowess and his hair-trigger temper, and then some when people realize that he is directly related to the Ballast family. He dislikes being remembered for his blood connections, and very much prefers it if people remember him for how many bones he broke or how many people he sent to the intensive care unit.

Appearance
Albert looks a little older than his age, possibly the aftermath of an unhealthy lifestyle in the past. He has long blonde hair, which he ties back in a low ponytail. Two tufts of his hair is red in color, and seem to rebel against the rest of his otherwise neatly slicked-back hair. He seems to wear a permanent glare that intimidates others with a slasher smile to compliment it. Albert also has an eyebrow piercing, and one ear piercing. His outfit is simple, starting from the tight white T-shirt he wears underneath a red vest with tattered sleeves and stiff collar to the red trousers with yellow flame pattern towards the bottom. His shoes often change in color, sometimes it's a traditional black, other times it may be some shade of red, orange or yellow.

Personality
Albert is noted for having an explosive temper. It doesn't take much to anger or annoy him, and he often resorts to violence to vent it out. He doesn't take sarcasm lightly, and sometimes it may even look like he can't take a joke, especially if it comes from someone he doesn't know. Albert may come across as cynical to certain people, and territorial to others. He is a demanding man, but a select few would know that Albert is really quite soft at heart. When it comes down to it, Albert doesn't know how to express himself very well, often bluntly telling people what he felt and meaning every word.

History
Albert's family was a broken one from the get-go. His mother was a whore, and bluntly put, he was an accident. His father had hooked up with his mother for a one-night stand in a drunken stupor in the bar she worked in, and never knew that she was pregnant with Albert. All he knew about his father was that his mother kept trying to get a hold of him so she could get money for child support, though his older sister Tatyana would later tell him that she just wanted to buy more jewellery or liquor.

Albert found out the hard way that his mother really was just a gold-digger, and the only reason she didn't abort any of them was because she didn't want to have to waste her money on them. Life in the household wasn't very peaceful. He spent his childhood stealing sweets from local grocery stores and selling them to the neighborhood kids for spare change, and as he grew older, picked fights with bigger kids in order to steal their wallets. It wasn't an honest life, but he and Tatyana were doing it for all of them to put food on the table while their mother went out partying, spending her money on useless things and bringing man after man home.

The then-Torchic grew into a then-Combusken, and one day, he'd had enough. The woman he called 'mother' was spending money on her children for once. And on her newborn son, the only one of them who came out inheriting her genes. LeRoux was his name, was it? The bastard son of some man she met in the bar, and the sad whore who can't keep her legs shut. How fitting. It hurt to think that he came out of the same woman.

So he bullied the little Finneon. Hit him, bossed him around with nothing but hate and contempt for the boy who knew nothing, and had everything they ever wanted. More than once, Tatyana had to hold him back with Elliot's help. Looking back at things, Albert wondered if the hate he felt was because LeRoux had all the attention and love he wanted. Perhaps the hate he felt was simply because he looked so much like their mother. Not that it mattered.

He had the last laugh, though. Their little 'family' had its last straw when LeRoux ran away from home without warning. His mother was hysterical when she found out her precious Finneon was nowhere to be found, and blaming LeRoux's disappearance on her other children, began beating them like she always did when she was dumped by a man she fancied, or when there was no more liquor in the house.

Their revenge began now.

By the end of the day, the five of them left. They stood outside the ashes of the home they lived in, knowing that their mother was dead in the basement. Albert made sure of that. He was the one who put the finishing touches on everything, after all. He burned her corpse, and he burned the house. Making a pact between them, they vowed to keep everything a secret, and reminded each other that the only reason they haven't been caught was because they lived in a secluded place, surrounded by dilapidated buildings. And because Keith had been careful enough to erase every last shred of evidence of them there.

So they parted ways. Albert went with Elliot, and set off for town, where Albert often heard of a man named Johannes Ballast. It didn't matter to him if he couldn't find his father, but what's important was that Elliot had a roof over his head. The then-Combusken demanded the most influential man in that side of town to take Elliot back as his son. All was well when Johannes agreed, as it didn't take much to tell that he and the young Tauros were father and son. Albert left, feeling satisfied and not minding that he had to live on the streets for a while.

What Albert didn't expect was when Johannes found Albert on the streets a few days later and told him that he found Albert's father.

That Day
It was just any other day after work. Albert had visited his favorite watering hole after hearing that his favorite performer was on stage. Caelis was her name. She had the most beautiful voice he'd ever heard, and there was just something about her that caught his eye. Things took a turn for the worst when the Bisharp hustled her backstage before she was ready to leave. Before Albert could finish 'talking' to Caelis.

What he saw pissed him off to no end. He didn't need to ask what was going on to see that Caelis didn't like how they were treating her. He could see that plain as day. He burned the bar down, that large 'cage' that held Caelis captive, but didn't leave unscathed. He took a blade to the back, and as it was a rather deep wound, the shock and pain had knocked him unconscious long after he escaped with Caelis.

The next time he woke up, he was in the infirmary in the Ballast mansion. After being treated for his wounds, and finding out that Caelis was now working there as the doctor's assistant, he took the time to talk to Caelis at long last. And he managed to identify what it was about her that caught his attention. He liked her.

He told her.

And he meant it.

Moves and Abilities

 * Blaze Kick


 * Sky Uppercut


 * Brave Bird


 * Flare Blitz

Relationships

 * Elliot Ballast - He's closest to the younger Tauros, who used to follow him around like a second skin. As such, the boy has a special place in his heart where they both could talk to each other about pretty much everything. Yes, even when they're entering their twenties.


 * Keith Sables - Albert didn't quite like Keith, mostly because the way Keith thinks and the way he goes about things was very similar to how their mother did things. He generally lets Keith do whatever he wants so long as the Gulpin stays out of his way, and Keith is one of the siblings that he wouldn't hesitate to hit if he gets out of line.


 * LeRoux Wilgestein - Albert loathes LeRoux. While his reasoning may not be the most solid, he can't get rid of the grudge he held against his mother for making his life a living hell on earth, and seeing LeRoux was like seeing their mother live and breathe as they do.


 * Tatyana Stratarov - Albert likes hanging around Tatyana, being his only older sibling. When he was younger, she used to be the one he ran to, and the only one to see him cry if things ever got frustrating enough for him. He couldn't let Keith or Elliot see him cry, after all... Their relationship remains unchanged up to the present, though Albert no longer runs to her for help, and seems to be more prepared to beat up any guy who dares play with her feelings.


 * Helena Shaw - Albert was never too close to Helena, mainly because Helena loved to shy away from crowds, and always looked annoyed whenever Albert was around. The Blaziken often took that as a sign that Helena didn't like him, and he wasn't going to ask why, she might have some stupid reason that'd make him wanna slap or kick her. In the present, he doesn't keep in contact with Helena.


 * Bjorn Ivors - He's not going to say it out loud, but he loves his father, even though he's still angry that Bjorn never bothered to take responsibility and actually adopt him from the witch who raised him. Bjorn understood him so well, the only reason Albert refrained from getting all clingy on the older man was because he was too prideful and didn't want to come off looking like a kid. Albert also took up cage fighting because he didn't want people to forget that his father was the best fighter for several years running prior to his resignation.


 * Johannes Ballast - Albert isn't too fond of him, using his influence to get what he wants as opposed to taking it with his own hands. It's undoubted that Johannes was nice, though. Decent company, but it sucked that he had to make an appointment if he ever wants to talk to the guy.


 * Reynolds Sables - Reynolds' difference to Keith is so jarring it's near damn well shocking. The Swalot was everything Keith wasn't, on top of being able to cook very well, which Albert treated himself and his father to every other match victory. As a person, Albert finds Reynolds to be a bit too soft, but a pleasant man to talk to.


 * Caelis - There are no words that can properly encompass what he feels for her but 'I love you'. He needs no reason to love her, he just knows they were meant for each other, as foolish as that sounded.

Trivia

 * Albert was possibly born on a Wednesday, or that everything bad he could remember took place on a Wednesday.


 * One of the things Albert would love to do is juggle. He has absolutely no patience to practice it, though.


 * Albert can play the guitar, and he usually plays when he's bored and stuck at home alone. He just might start playing for Caelis...

Quotes
"Let's bring the house down...!"

"Was that the best you can do?"

"You're so weak, it's embarrassing to be this close to you."

"You don't know who you're messing with, punk."

Ghost stories arc
Albert tagged along simply because he thought Caelis would appreciate the change of pace from the somewhat monotonous (in his opinion) life that they were leading, and had taken over the seat by the fireplace because everybody seemed to want to get to the fluffiest seat first. At the moment, he has absolutely nothing to share. Maybe if he made something up...