KIA

KIA / Killed In Action

**KIA** is a deuteragonist and a major ally in *The Scratched Universe*. He is introduced in Episode 01 - I for an Eye.

KIA is a Soldier class mercenary who worked for the V.A.C in the Security sector as a level 2, with the role of *Commanding Officer* within his assigned server: *Lazytropia #32.* During his occupation, he and his team had successfully protected the server from any and all sources of malicious activity such as cheaters and hackers, before the events of EP:01.

Not much has been revealed about what happened to KIA between EP:01 and EP:04, but it is hinted that he is aware of the current alien invasion and The Distortion.

After the events of EP:04, KIA has joined forces with another fellow stand user, Heavy Guy. Their main goal is to grow as individuals and deal with the Distortion, but KIA briefly revealed to have an elaborate plan to stop the invasion.

## Appearance

KIA is a BLU Soldier who wore a standard-issue security sector uniform during his occupation in the V.A.C with no changes whatsoever.

After the events of EP:01, his appearance changed. His current main outfit still has some resemblance to the security sector's uniform, but is no longer wearing the headgear and black dress pants. Instead, he now wears a team-colored fedora while still having the overcoat.

## Personality

Before the events of EP:01, KIA was a confident and inspiring leader amongst his three fellow subordinates, as evidenced in his brief flashbacks. After the security squad's downfall and eventual resurrection of KIA, he showed signs of grief and distress over his colleagues. Because of the events of EP:01, it is safe to assume that KIA was psychologically affected by these tragic events.

Currently, KIA is somewhat of a mercenary who likes to keep to himself without making much of a fuss. He is direct with his words, often having a serious or cold tone to them. His leadership still shows but is molded by the experiences he went through, now being characterized as a very assertive leader who is bold in his statements.

However, KIA still shows signs of care and worry - although discreet, as seen in EP:04, where he and Heavy Guy teamed up with the V.A.C security team to save the server's population from a Distorted invasion. Although rare, KIA also expresses feelings of surprise, such as when he saw his Heavy colleague again in a flashback; empathy, when KIA motivated and gave advice to Heavy Guy after his defeat; and happiness, when he accepted Heavy Guy's request to join forces and form a team.

As of EP:05, it is clear that KIA has a strong dislike, if not hate, towards mercenaries who break fair-play or twist the rules to their favor within the fragging duty competitions. The reasons are most likely related to his late occupation with the V.A.C as the Security teams have to deal with these kinds of mercenaries on a daily basis.

There are several situations in EP:06 where KIA is not like his usual quiet self. His smiles were more frequent through out the entire episode, especially near the end where he, along with Heavy Guy, accepted Smoke's request to join their team. KIA lost his collected nature and lashed out at Heavy Guy when the latter was not taking the battle seriously against the Stage 1 Distorted V.A.C personnel, not out of anger, but out of worry as he was shown to be clearly concerned for his well being. The same situation also occured when Smoke was shot in the head with a Distorted Sniper's huntsman arrow, where he scolded at Smoke about not being cautious. KIA also cracked a smile at Smoke's joke when she was speaking of her girlfriend, Cinder, and did a genuine smile showing teeth when remembering a very similar occurrence in EP1, when he had escaped the server by a military vehicle.

Signs of KIA's struggles and strong indications of PTSD are showcased quite frequently in EP6, such as the aforementioned lashing out at Heavy Guy out of worry, reminding himself of Ace when Smoke joined the group, or even when he had agreed to join Heavy Guy before that.

## Abilities

Before becoming KIA, he was a normal Soldier with no supernatural or anomalous properties. After being killed by the Acoleyet, KIA's body was affected by the anomalous properties of the creature and later on was able to be resurrected, fully healed. He was now the owner of a stand called American Myth. Later on, it has been shown that his body acquired new traits, such as the aforementioned healing factor, but at a greater rate; and an overall enhanced body with improved traits, such as speed and vision.

* **Enhanced Speed**

KIA was able to dodge Heavy Guy's jab during their duel effortlessly and retaliated almost instantly by stabbing his hand with American Myth.

* **Enhanced Reflexes**

As evidenced in his fight with the Stage 1 Distorted Soldier, KIA was keeping up and stood his ground against the Distorted Soldier's several melee attacks. The Soldier itself even admitted it with some surprise during combat.

* **Stand User**

KIA is a stand user created by the anomalous properties of the Acoleyet. His stand is American Myth, a medium/long-range stand focused on ballistic weapon combat.

* **Healing Factor**

KIA is able to regenerate his organic tissue from wounds at a fast rate.

## Trivia

* KIA's name is an acronym of ***K**illed **I**n **A**ction*;
* Houston is KIA's true name, revealed by his fallen colleague Ace.