Hailing from a family who always prided themselves on their skills of adventuring and plundering, Marcus has never known a time in his life when he didn’t need to steal to survive. Masters at tricking unsuspecting travelers out of their money, his family roamed the desert on sand skiffs and were pros at setting up traps, ambushes, and other sneaky means to separate a man from his gil. But Marcus grew tired of his position within the family. His older brother, Rex, was next in line to inherit the helm and so that left him in charge of his cousins, who were less than smart and always costing the family more in damages when they wrecked their skiffs from playing chicken.

Marcus would spend the time when they weren’t holding someone up to repair the vehicles and maintain the caravan. He liked his fair share of racing as well and was one of the fastest bandits in the crew. But he wanted more out of life than stealing loose change off of random travelers. He was tired of sand being in everything he owned. Around the time he turned eighteen, he told his family he was leaving to seek his own fortunes. It did not go over very well. Only his brother was kind enough to tell him he could always come back.

Marcus left and eventually made his way to Junon where in no time, he was the leader of a gang. He enjoyed the big city and what it had to offer. Most of his time was spent defending his turf from other gangs and stealing bikes which he then raced. Sometimes he got caught, and was thrown in jail for a few nights. But this did littler to deter him. He would always get out and pick up right where he left off. He was cocky, smooth, and really unfamiliar with any huge failure. He decided that he wanted to challenge himself and aim higher. He decided to raid a Shinra garage and steal some of their wares. What he failed to account for was the place being guarded.

Reno and Rude were on site picking up a new vehicle for the Turks when they encountered Marcus attempting to hot wire and steal a brand spanking new ShinRa GX-9, one of the latest motorcycles to use Mako as combustion power. Marcus did not get far. Reno zapped him with his extended electro-mag rod before the thief could get away and thinking they had won, the two Turks walked over casually, joking about what a terrible thief this guy was. But Marcus was up fast and he tussled with the two Turks, giving them a run for their money. Rude actually broke a sweat fighting him and Reno was unable to land anymore blows with the speed that Marcus moved.

He eventually managed to get away with Reno and Rude unable to give chase because they were simply out of breath. Marcus high tailed it to a local bar and decided to hide out for a bit while things simmered down. He placed himself at the counter and ordered a drink. Just as he was about to take a sip, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Marcus turned to see a man with short black hair pulled into a ponytail wearing a black suit. “That was really impressive.” the man started, taking a seat next to Marcus. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t have you arrested for attempting to steal ShinRa property. You could go away for a very long time..”

Marcus smirked and drank his drink in one gulp. “Wouldn’t you rather hire me?” he said jokingly, but boldly.

The man thought for a moment. The doors suddenly opened and in walked Reno and Rude. Rude cracked his neck and Reno pointed to Marcus with his electro-mag rod. “There he is.”

Marcus glanced back to the man who seemed to still be thinking it over. “I mean, you’re really in no position to be making me offers..” Reno and Rude walked over with purpose, preparing to drag Marcus out of the bar by force. Marcus fished around in his pocket for a moment and produced two small ID badges. He tossed them onto the counter. Reno and Rude immediately recognized their own tags and began to search their own pockets.

The man laughed and said, “That is pretty impressive. Very well, magnet fingers. I’ll have your paperwork drawn up. Welcome to the Turks, Mr. Cole.”

“WHAT!?” both Reno and Rude exclaimed.