Donte McArthur (Cataclysmic Gerosha)

Donte McArthur / Emeraldon is a semi-retired superhero in the Gerosha universe of Dozerfleet Comics. He is the second boyfriend and ultimately the second husband of Candi Levens.

Early life
Donte's father, much like Candi's, was subjected to Phaelite experimentation as an infant. As a result, Donte inherited Emwault abilities which allowed him to become part of an elite group of Emwaults. He had a mostly normal childhood, until his father was killed by gang gunfire. His mother became very strange soon afterward, and he ran away from home by the time he was 17. Since then, he found numerous ways to take care of himself while assuming his identity of Emeraldon. In spite difficulties with his mother, he remained close with his half-brother Khumar Hamilton.

Over time, he developed quite a reputation among the Phaelites, and they eventually asked him to assist them in dealing with a threat of war from Metheel. Reluctantly, he accepted. Shortly after signing the contract, he met with the Wortell family. They soon became very close friends, and the Wortells wrote in their will that if anything should happen to them and they had children, they should desire for Donte to adopt their children.

Ciem 1
A year before Donte and Mr. Wortell were destined to board a Phaelite warship headed for Phaelon, Donte met Candi Flippo while the two of them were battling a Meethlite-created thug known as Jeff the Invisible inside the condemned and abandoned Stolly's Building, formerly a warehouse for softcore magazines. Jeff had unsuccessfully attempted to kill Candi with a guillotine that was being stored in there by Meethlite associates of his. Soon thereafter, Candi and Donte teamed up to defeat him. Donte was fascinated by Candi's mostly self-taught fighting skills as well as her religious faith and her dedication to fighting evil. Therefore, he invites her over to his house to spend the night, and they quickly become friends. In short order, they begin dating.

The night of his departure for Phaelon, his ship was ambushed by Meethlites and he was taken prisoner. Several experiments were conducted on him, and he was eventually sentenced to be executed publicly in 2021 in Dirbine. Meanwhile, the Hebbelskin Gang seized the opportunity of his capture to infiltrate Dirbine with police loyal to their cause, and unleashed Musaran to eliminate Phaelite experiments which might result in competition.

He had all but given up hope of having his powers, health, and youth restored; as well as of being rescued. However, Candi's determination and careful planning led to her finding and rescuing him on the hour of his execution. Since being rescued and restored, he has been more humble than usual, even reserved. He also grew fearful that he would never have children. By this time, he is less willing to resist Candi's offers due to believing that she is "already ruined" due to her marriage to Denny. Therefore, he does not feel the need to preserve her.

Ciem 2
By the time of Ciem 2, Donte and Candi have succumb to temptation several times with each other, but still resist actually cohabiting. Nevertheless, they realize that they need to get married sooner than they originally planned. He originally wanted Candi to wait until after she graduated to marry him, so that they could have her grieve losing Denny adequately as part of a widow's honor. However, their inability to resist each other plus their need to marry if they wish to adopt Charlie Wortell compel the couple to move up their wedding date. Donte's powers aren't completely gone since Candi helped restore them, but cancer in his back muscles weakens him and threatens to rob him of his powers permanently.

Donte goes into therapy sessions with Ploribus to fight his cancer, but is bothered by the fact that this means he won't be able to assist Candi. Therefore, he spends hours in treatment wishing for Candi and unable to help her. When Candi finds herself in over her head battling Capp Aard and the Mik-Non, Donte leaves from Ploribus' treatments early to find her. He assists her in destroying the Ming-Yo, and then strands himself in California, his powers all but gone. Candi flies a plane to California to rescue him, but ends up marrying him while they are in Vacaville. They decide to have a double wedding with Steve and Miriam. Before resuming treatments with Ploribus, Donte and Candi make their adoption of Charlie official. Around this time, Candi announces to Donte that she is pregnant.

Path of the Ming Cho
Around the time that the Marringtons destroy the Ming-Cho, Donte's treatments with Ploribus hold his cancer back, but they are not enough to get rid of his cancer completely. Nevertheless, he completely loses his powers. Candi eventually gives birth to their son Frank, and gets a job at a bar while Donte stays home and helps her raise their two children.

Ciem 3
Donte's cancer is almost completely cured, but he needs one last set of treatments by the time of this story. He goes underground for treatments, taking Frank with him while Candi and Charlie stay behind. With Lex's help, he recovers Charlie when Candi is captured by Kolumn. He is forced to watch helplessly while Candi remains Kolumn's prisoner and Milp destroys Dirbine. When Dolly rescues Candi and they return to Dirbine, he is relieved. The couple decide they'd had enough of Dirbine, and Donte agrees with Candi that they should move to Kentucky. After the move, Donte and Candi live happily in Kentucky and enjoy a reasonably prosperous life together. They eventually have two more children: John and Dana.

Death
Donte dies a few months after Candi's death, and this leads to John moving in with a grown-up Charlie while Dana moves in with her much-older cousins Lex and Andy. Lex arranges for him to be buried alongside Candi's headless remains in the Gerosha Cemetery. Both are buried in a section of the Flippo Mausoleum, alongside Reily Flippo and not far from Stan and Shalia's graves. Located nearby inside the mausoleum are Denny and Angie's graves, so that Candi can be buried with her Levens relatives.

Family
Donte's father was once married to Betty, and they had Donte a few years before Candi's birth. When Betty is attacked and raped, the trauma leads her to partially reject Donte's half-brother Khumar. However, Mr. McArthur refuses to let his wife have an abortion. Donte, disgusted by his mother's growing antisocial tendencies, begins to distance himself from her and associate more with his religious and moral father. After Mr. McArthur's death, Donte begins a desperate attempt within himself to learn how to accept his mother, in spite not approving of how she treats Khumar. Finally, Donte gets fed up with it and runs away. Khumar follows suit a few years later.

Candi becomes the only woman that Donte has ever considered seriously for a wife, and gets his wish of marrying her only after the two endure many trials and tribulations. He has a niece through his half-brother Khumar, who marries Lindsay Hamilton. This indirectly makes Donte related to the Malestroms, since Dolly is Lindsay's older sister. By extension, this makes Candi and Jeraime Malestrom relatives. His stepdaughter, Angie Levens, is deceased before his marriage to Candi. He has Frank, John, and Dana with Candi. He and Candi adopt Charlie Wortell from an orphanage.

After his death, he acquires grandchildren through John and through Dana, as they have both gotten married to their respective sweethearts. Devin and Dana Spanz join a resistance movement against the Phaletori, and allow their children to join that resistance movement.

Alternate versions
In 2007 canon, Donte has difficulty finding a job and keeping a house. He is a private citizen with no connection to police whatsoever. His persona, Emeraldon, is the only crime-fighting part of his life. However, the character was not always envisioned this way.


 * In the 2005 version of Ciem, he was known as Donte Williams. He was a detective who was soon promoted to a police chief.  He later loses that position to Merle Hourvitz.


 * In the 2006 version, he is a police chief in Dirbine who has been in love with Candi for a long time, but agrees to get out of her life when Denny gets her pregnant. However, after learning of Denny's death, he grows frantic to be a part of her life again.  This leads to the Meethlites seizing and capturing him, requiring for Candi to rescue him later.

Enemies
Donte shares many enemies with Candi, including Duke Arfaas, Captain Aardwulf, Cupric, Jeff the Invisible, Merle Hourvitz, the Sapphire King, and the FPB.

Supporting characters
The below is a list of the most prominent of Donte's allies.


 * Candi, whom he eventually marries.
 * Ploribus Philippine, Candi's Phaelite half-brother, defeats Merle's corrupt police force and gives his life to assist in defeating Milp.
 * Lex Philippine, Ploribus' near-fully-human son with Nancy Philippine, proves to take over as mentor for Donte's daughter Dana after Donte's death.

Personality
Donte is generally kindhearted, much like Candi, but may become enraged if threatened enough. He does occasionally harbor desires for revenge against others, but is usually able to suppress those urges without much difficulty. He is fairly religious and philosophical, often having devotion times by himself that not even Candi thinks to make time for. Unlike many other men in Viron, Donte has a very strong sense of morality, especially sexual morality. Unfortunately, he also battles with a tremendous amount of desire for Candi. One of his personality quirks involves his fascination with whether or not women are virginal before he dates them. He refuses Candi's first suggestion of sex to him not only because he felt it right, but also because he didn't want her to be "spoiled" before he could marry her after his time served fighting a war on Phaelon. He abandons this ambition when he learns of Candi's marriage to Denny, and his desires for her begin to cloud his judgment.

He struggles to set an example for others while simultaneously desiring intimacy with Candi, whom he depends on for his survival after being rescued from Musaran. His tendencies towards depression stem from his father's tragic death during his childhood, as well as his sense of inadequacy after developing cancer. Due to his internal moral conflicts and personal frustrations, Donte has difficulty handling both emotional baggage and others' carefree optimism. He is fairly reserved, as he realizes that displaying too much confidence and being too outgoing could endanger his loved ones. His attraction to Candi is partially because they have virtually identical personalities in spite having very different back stories. Guilt over having sex frequently bothers both of them, though Donte is more willing to accept a bad outcome that could end in his death while Candi is more determined to fight for survival. He is otherwise a determined, dutiful man, and his superhero self is a Superman archetype. In parenting, he tends to be very reserved, except when the situation with is kids requires him to behave otherwise.