Derik

Derik is an agent in the Department of Mary Sues. He is written by Neshomeh.

Appearance
Like most dragonriders, Derik is tall and well-muscled. He has a dark complexion and a square jaw. Almost the entire right side of his face is covered in Threadscar. His eyes are mismatched due to the fact that the right one is damaged and blinded, which gives it a milky blue appearance. His normal eye is hazel.

Though he is no longer a dragonrider, Derik still wears his fur-trimmed wherhide flight jacket most of the time. The shoulder knots are simply bronze for his deceased dragon and gray for his never-specified Weyr, which happens to suit HQ perfectly.

Personality
Derik snaps from one extreme to another depending on the circumstances. He can be laughing and joking one minute, ready to kill the next, and fall into silent brooding at a moment's notice. Having lost his dragon means that he's on the edge of sanity, and he has a personal vendetta against Mary Sues that gives him a special zeal for his work. Between missions, without some specific purpose or expectation to fulfill, he tends to be depressed and hostile. He still manages to be the more responsible one in his partnership.

He identifies strongly as a Pernese man. His rebooted past history includes Harper training, and he has demonstrated that Pern's musical heritage holds value for him. He has a trained singing voice (a clear, high-ranging baritone), but he is reluctant to put it to much use, perhaps due in part to his strange status as a Phantom of the Opera photocopy. Having once met a mostly in-character Leroux!Erik in FicPsych, he is not at all comfortable with the parts of himself that recall Erik.

Origin and Recruitment
Derik was recruited by Jennifer Robinson from the crossover "Harry Potter and the Dragonriders of Pern." He had been cast as the Weyrleader, rider of bronze Skepnadth, and went by the name of E'rik at the time. Essentially, he was a Phantom of the Opera look-alike dragged in by the Weyrwoman Sue to make her look good. He didn't have very much to do, and Jenni talked him into helping the PPC agents assigned to the fic. During the process of taking down the three Mary Sues in the story, the Weyrwoman's Sued golden queen attacked Skepnadth and killed him.

In FicPsych, he was called dragonrider!Erik to distinguish him from such characters as Leroux!Erik, Gerard Butler!Erik, etc. Following the convention of shortening the aforementioned to Lerik and Gerik, dragonrider!Erik became Derik.

PPC Career
Derik's career so far is a bit short due to time slippage. Living with a kender can be very distracting, and he went on only two recorded missions with Earwig in the time they were partnered.

In 2011 he was re-partnered with Gall Bonecrusher, but it seems the time in their first mission has an odd relation to time in the rest of the multiverse, because although it began in March 2011, it seems to have ended in the middle of 2012.

Timeline

 * 2008-2010
 * Recruited by Jenni Robinson from "Harry Potter and the Dragonriders of Pern" (crossover; Agents Supernumerary and Ilraen).
 * Instrumental in defending FicPsych from an invading army of Mary Sues, as recorded in "Gestalt Therapy."
 * Partnered with Earwig Slugthrower.
 * First recorded mission with Earwig.
 * Spotted in Rudi's Pub in DIA: "Introductions" (cameo appearance).
 * Second recorded mission with Earwig. They recruit Gall Bonecrusher.
 * Interlude: "One Tech's Nightmare."
 * 2011
 * Sometime in January, Earwig wanders off and winds up on a "training exchange program" with Agent Brightbeard. He does not inform Derik, who is left to stew and struggle with his grip on sanity.
 * Attends Henry Robinson's second birthday party on February 5.
 * Partnered with Gall.
 * First recorded mission with Gall. Also the anniversary of Derik's recruitment.
 * 2012
 * Joins the All-HQ Australian Indoor-Rules Quiddich League in "Recruitment: Team Blast Hardcheese," mostly to prevent Gall from being in charge by herself.
 * Squares off against old friends from FicPsych in the first AHAIRQL match of the season, "Physical Therapy vs. Blast Hardcheese."

Mission Logs
Home: Response Center #1110

Partnered with Earwig

 * Mission 1: "The Smasher" (Super Smash Bros.)
 * In which a kender is the brains of the operation and the team gets some unexpected help.
 * Stu: Spidey3000
 * Mission 2: "The Girl and Her Dragon" (How to Train Your Dragon)
 * In which only the agents can prevent forest fires.
 * Sue: Kana Horrendous the Third
 * Interlude 1: "One Tech's Nightmare," with Agent Techno-Dann and Gall Bonecrusher
 * In which it is seen that a dragon is far too big for HQ.

Partnered with Gall

 * Mission 3: "The Adventure Begins With One Step" (Lord of the Rings)
 * In which Gall returns to make Derik's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day even worse.