J.T's Roll Call Part 2

[J.T.]

Hi all,

One new character this week for you all to read :)

BLUE BOTTLE

Jonathan Miller was an average looking boy born into a hard working family in the Bronx, New York. His father was a repairman for a local electronics shop and his mother was a full time housewife looking after their five children, Jonathan being the eldest.
Jonathan loved school and learning, he had a knack for the sciences especially electronics and in his spare time and school holidays would go on call outs with his father to lend a hand.
The area where the miller family lived was not a rich neighbourhood, there was a lot of crime and the local youths went round in gangs. It was not a good idea to be seen to be different or to have ideas above one’s station. Jonathan’s parents were very worried that their son would not amount to anything if he didn’t apply himself to his schooling.
Although Jonathan wanted to make his parents happy and provide for his family pressure was being put on him from the local gangs to join them. His knowledge of mechanics and electronics was seen as an asset to be exploited. After an attack, a warning from one gangs of what would happen to his father if he didn’t join them Jonathan took up their colours.
The following twelve months saw Jonathan in and out of the juvenile courts on charges of breaking and entering and car jacking. His relationship with his father went down hill until he would walk out of the room when Jonathan walked in. This broke Jonathan’s heart but deep down he knew that as long as he worked with the gang his parents would be safe, his schooling also suffered and he was expelled.

Everything changed when he was caught while breaking into the electrical shop his father worked for. In this robbery the old security guard, someone Jonathan had known most of his life was badly injured. In court the jury believed that Jonathan had not taken part in the beating of the guard but that fact that he was there and didn’t try to stop it, in their eyes made him as bad as the other gang members. Jonathan was sentenced to five years in a youth centre.

During his time in prison Jonathan had time to reassess his life, taking the fall as he had insured his families safety and being in prison allowed him to start studying again. It was not long before he had read all the books in the library on electronics and was requesting more advanced ones to be made available to him. Part of the Centres curriculum was to teach the inmates a trade and one of the teachers saw a natural if somewhat obsessive need in Jonathan to learn and got all the books that were available for Jonathan to devour. While at the centre his teacher managed to persuade one of his old professors, to give his class a talk. The meeting with this academic was a turning point for Jonathan and by the time his sentence was completed he had not only caught up with the school work he had missed but had done a degree in electronics, mechanics and advanced electronics.

Upon re-entering society Jonathan applied for a scholarship for a research doctorate in advanced electronics, even though he had a criminal record the university accepted him on his academic qualifications. As part of the cause the highest scoring student would get a summer placement working with the world renowned Dr. Theodore Rhinewood, a leading light for many years into the field of electronics. Jonathan knew an opportunity like this only came along once in a life time and worked and studied all hours god sent, it all paid off and he was marked top of the class and given the placement.

On the day Jonathan started his placement at the Rhinewood institute for electronics he was informed that he would be working along side Dr. Theodore Rhinewood himself.
Jonathan got the shock of his life when he was introduced to Rhinewood, as he was the one and the same Doctor that gave the lecture on electronics at the youth centre.
Over the course of his placement the old man and young student became close friends, this friendship leading Rhinewood to confide in Jonathan that in the 40s he had been the Amazing Blue Bottle - a superhero that fought in the Second World War. Seeing in Jonathan a dedication and honesty that he thought he would never see in the youth of today the old man showed the Jonathan his old battle suit.
There and then in the basement of the Rhinewood’s house the two men made a packed that Jonathan would take over the title and legacy of the Blue Bottle and in return he would help the young man build a bigger and better suit to fight evil in the world. Jonathan jumped at the chance firstly to be able to work on a private project with Rhinewood and secondly he wanted to be able to help innocent people like his family to life their lives without fear.
The project took on a life of its own, even when Jonathan went back to university he would spend every waking hour in the basement with Rhinewood creating new circuits, better armour and more advanced weaponry. They even created a devise to shrink the suits wearer to the actual size of a blue bottle.
One evening Rhinewood was reminiscing with Jonathan over the battles he had fought against the nazi war machine when Jonathan asked him why he had taken the name blue bottle. Rhinewood explained that as a kid he had been fascinated with insects and in his few the Blue Bottle was one of the warrior races in the insect world. This discussion went on into the early hours of the morning, the two men theorizing what it would be like if they could build a devise that would allow them to communicate and control insects. Maybe it was the lack of sleep or just the fact that they were scientist who wanted to push the bounds of science to its limits but over the next three years the two men put aside the new battle armour to explore this possibility.
The finished product was a circuit that could be implanted into the back of the users neck attached to nero pathways in the brain. The body’s electrical pulses would power it and a small part of the brain would control it. In theory with the chip installed the user could emit an electrical pulse on the same wavelength as that used in the insects brain there by giving the user limited communication abilities with them.
The problem was all this was theory but after long discussions Rhinewood, against his better judgement allowed Jonathan to become the test subject. It wasn’t long after the operation that the real power of the chip became known running some tests the two men realised that the chip had tapped into other abilities granting Jonathan not only the power to communicate with insects but by changing the frequencies in the pulses control them and even see through their eyes at great distances.
With these new found skills Rhinewood and Jonathan turned their attention back to the Blue Bottle battle suit knowing that with these extra abilities Jonathan would be better prepared to fight crime.
As the suit was nearing completion Rhinewood, who had been feeling unwell for a couple of months, was told he had an incurable brain tumour. He knew his time was short and worked night and day to complete the suit before his mind failed him. Seven years after the two men first met the armour was completed Rhinewood now in a wheel chair looked on proudly as Jonathan stood before him in their finished creation. Doctor Theodore Rhinewood died peacefully in his sleep three weeks later knowing that the legacy he had created as a young man in the 1940’s would live on through the spirit of a young man he had come to love like the son he never had.
Now Jonathan holds true to his promise to his old mentor and goes fourth into the night to do battle with evil in the name of THE BLUE BOTTLE and the memory of his old friend.

[J.T.]

Here's another one (this will be in two parts as it is quite long.

PART 1

STONEWALL



Jonathan was not like other babies, when he was born it was apparent from an early age that he was suffering from a growth problem by the age of eight children of his age were taller than him. Doctors confirmed that although Jonathan’s body was in proportion for his height upon reaching adulthood he would only be only between four and five foot tall.
His parents put a brave face on the situation for Jonathan’s sake but knew deep down that he would have it tough especially when he went to senior school.

By the age of sixteen Jonathan was the size and build of a seven year old, the few friends he had as a child had drifted away and he spent most of his time on his own. This lead to him being seen as a bit of a loner and a weirdo by his fellow school mates. One in particular Trevor Manning, the local school bully and rough nut saw it as a duty to the school to make Jonathan’s life a living hell. Whenever he saw Jonathan, whether in the street or at school he and his gang would hound Jonathan tirelessly, the outcome always being the same, Jonathan would return home with ripped cloths or black eye or his money stolen. When asked Jonathan would lie to his parents “ oh that I fell over.” Or “I ran into a door” or “ I lent my pocket money to a friend”. Anything to stop his family worrying about him.
Through it all Jonathan was very positive about his condition and never seemed to let it get him down. Although many nights before going to bed he would look at himself in the mirror and wish he was stronger or faster or better looking but for some reason he never wished that he was taller.

Jonathan always looked forward to the summer holidays it usually meant he would have six weeks away from school, although he liked learning and was a bright kid, but more importantly he would be away from Trevor.
This summer was special as his parents had aloud him to start his first summer job working in Pickins Book repair shop. Mr. Pickins was a family friend and saw in Jonathan a mind willing to learn and a heart not tainted by his physical situation. Mr Pickins was also in his late seventies and needed a young pair of eyes to see the more interact repairs were done correctly.

One evening on his way home from work and his spirits high because he had just received his first pay cheque he turned into the main street only to notice that Trevor and his gang were lounging about outside the local soda house. Not wanting to have to go back and not wanting to show these thugs he was scared he carried on walking. One of Trevor’s cronies noticed Jonathan on the street and nudged his leader, pointing in Jonathan’s direction. Something was said between the group and Trevor’s four friends got up and headed over towards Jonathan while Trevor sat where he was with a big grin on his face. Seeing that he was in trouble Jonathan started to walk a bit faster until he came level with the entrance of an ally that lead away from the street. Pretending to go passed the ally Jonathan spun quickly on his heels and ran as fast as he could into the ally the four boys hot on his heels.


Leroy had just seen the last of his customers out through the door to his gym and was having a quiet beer sitting out on the fire escape to his second floor office. Leroy was big, six four in his cotton socks and even at the age of fifty carried himself well. Leroy had been a boxer about twenty years earlier and was heading to make a name for himself until he realised that the local crime lords ran the ring and it wouldn’t be long before he was given the choice to take a dive or end up in the river. Leroy’s mother didn’t raise no numb skull and when the opportunity came his way Leroy bought the building he was now sitting in and turned it into a very successful boxing gym.
Sitting there remembering Leroy noticed a young boy, about the age of seven, at the mouth of the ally below him. The boy made to walk passed then turned and sprinted down the ally below where he was sitting as if the devil himself was on his tail minutes later four youths passed below at break neck speed. Standing up for a better look Leroy watched to see what was going on.

The young boy was fast and was starting to out distance the larger boys. Leroy thought that of he got to the turn in the ally that lead to the next street the small boy would be home free. Just then a fifth boy appeared from around the corner in front of the small boy, raised a base ball bat and swung at waist height as if he was play in a little league match. The bat came round with some force and hit the younger boy smack in the stomach. Leroy was sure he heard the air being forced out of the boy’s lungs even from where he was standing. The young boy flow back and crashed into a dumpster. By this time the other boys had got to their prey.

Fair do’s to the boy he staggered to his feet and prepared to defend himself even though he had no chance against five boys twice his age and size. With a signal from the boy with the bat the four thugs laid into the young boy.

That was enough for Leroy, yes a bit of fun was one thing but this was getting out of hand and fast. Moving swiftly down the fire escape Leroy hit the ally running and was pulling the boys off their target within minutes. A few slaps here and a few soft taps there quietened them down. Bending down Leroy started to examine the young boy on the floor. Just then the lad shouted a warning and Leroy turned just in time to put his arm up and fend off a blow from the base ball bat.
Now Leroy was pissed, Standing up to his full height he towered over his attacker. With one big hand he caught the next swing the youth made for him and stopped it dead in its tracks. Looking the boy full in the eyes he bought his fist down hard on the bridge of his nose with a resounding crack. The youth stumbled back blood gushing from his face. Grabbing the youth Leroy lifted him up.

“ Hasn’t your pa ever told you not to get dangerous animals angry, and son let me tell you I’m one fucking dangerous animal when pissed off. Now be a good little boy and run off home with your friends here. And come back again when you are older and bigger then I’ll really kick your arse for you.”

With that he through him against his friends and they all ran off with their tails between their legs.

Now that they were alone Leroy had a chance to study the young lad in front of him and was surprised to see that he was in fact a sixteen year old and not as he first thought a kid of seven.

“ That was brave of you son to stand up to those thugs, that takes courage and a little bit of stupidity to do.”

“ By the way the names Leroy. “ said Leroy holding out his hand.

“ Jonathan, Jonathan Stonewall thank sir for helping me there I thought I’d get the tar kicked out of me for sure this time”

“ So this isn’t the first time you’ve had a run in with that lot then. Come with me I’ll get some ice for that eye and check you over for any broken ribs”.

With that Leroy showed Jonathan up the fire escape to his office. While Leroy administered first aid Jonathan told him about Trevor.

“ I tell you what if you want I’ll instruct you in the fine art of boxing so you can better defend yourself and in exchange you can clean the locker rooms here at the gym what do you say.”

Jonathan readily accepted the offer and thus started a friendship that would last long into Jonathan’s adulthood.

Five years on and Jonathan was part owner in a successful gym, he managed the books and generally kept the place running this left Leroy free to do what he did best and teach boxing.
True to his word Leroy taught Jonathan the art of boxing and to Leroy’s surprise and delight the young man took to it like a duck to water and it wasn’t long before he was able to take on men twice his size.
All this sudden physical exercise also had an effect on Jonathan’s body within a year he had developed into a power house of a youth, not overly developed, like a body builder but solid and athletic. This made Jonathan a lot more out going and his natural easy nature shone through.

On Jonathan’s twenty first birthday Leroy and his parents got together with family and friends and sprung a surprise party at his family’s home. Around twelve Leroy came to Jonathan and handed him an envelop saying to only open it when he had left and with that wished him a happy birthday and headed home because he was tired.

Once Leroy was gone Jonathan opened the envelop inside was a letter and a set of keys.

“ Dear Jon,

Thank you for being the son I never had it has done my soul proud to see you grow and to use you uniqueness to your advantage. You know I’m no good with words so here is something I hope will show you how much you mean to me. The keys are for a small flat round the corner from the gym. As a young man now you will need your space and a place to call your own.

Your dearest friend,
L”

[J.T.]

STONEWALL (PART 2)

Finishing the letter Jonathan ran for the door telling his parents he needed to go thank Leroy for his present but by the time he had gotten to the front gate Leroy’s car was turning the corner at the end of the road.

Grabbing his bike Jonathan took the short cut to down town to the gym. By the time he got there Leroy’s car was parked up and the lights were on in Leroy’s apartment. Instead of ringing the bell and making Leroy walk down the stairs Jonathan went up the fire escape as he had so many times before to knock on the window.
As he approached the third floor he heard shouting coming from Leroy’s apartment. Looking through the open window he saw Leroy on the floor and a well built man standing over him with a base ball bat in his hand.

“ You did tell me to come back when I was bigger so here I am. I’ve been thinking of you for a long time. I would have visited earlier but had to spend some time in a little place up river for a while. But now I’m back and I thought it would be good to pay you back for your hospitality you showed me when last we met.”

With that Trevor brings down the bat along Leroy’s back as the man tries to get up and defend himself. There is a loud popping sound as the bat hits home and Leroy crashes to the floor.
Trevor looks into Leroy’s eyes and with a smile on his face raises the bat for a second swing. Leroy closes his eyes and prays to god that his end is quick but the blow doesn’t land. Opening his eyes Leroy is amazed to see his attacker sprawled on the floor of the apartment and standing over him is Jonathan rubbing blood off his knuckles.

Rushing over to the old man Jonathan tries to help him up.

“ No son don’t call the paramedics I think his blow broke my spine as I can’t move my legs.”

Fearful of his friends condition Jonathan turns to pick up the phone only to make contact with a bat in the face. While he had been trying to help Leroy Trevor had regained his senses and crept up on Jonathan, bat in hand. Luckly for the young man Trevor was still dizzy from the right hook he had received and the blow only knocked Jonathan across the room.
Dazed Jonathan staggered to his feet in time to see Trevor step up to the prone Leroy for one last swing.

“Say your prays old man”

With a last desperate surge of strength Jonathan launched himself at his childhood tormentor. There was a clash of bodies and when the dust settled both were staggering to their feet.

“ Boy I should have crippled you years ago now its pay back time then I’ll finish this old shit lying there”

With that he raised the bat and swung at Jonathan’s head. Thinking quickly Jonathan raised his arm, better to have a broken arm than a cracked skull. But to his amazement and Trevor’s dismay the bat shattered over his elbow leaving Jonathan unharmed.
Seeing his chance Jonathan let fly with a left knowing that he needed to put down this attacker quickly so he could get help for Leroy.
Again to Jonathan’s surprise his fist made contact with Trevor’s face but where he was expecting to see Trevor sink to the floor his attacker flow back crashing through two apartment walls to land in a broken heap in the hall.

Checking to make sure his asailent would not cause anymore problems Jonathan realised Trevor was dead.

Hurrying over to Leroy he told him of Trevor’s condition.

“look boy it was self defence but what happened here was not normal you should not have been able to do what you did to Trevor but lets not worry about that now.
On my desk it a rolodex there is a man listed there called Snowman he’s a friend of mine take the address put Trevor in my car and go see Snowman he’ll take care of it for you. Get back here as soon as you can I can wait while for the medics, its not like I’m going any place soon is it. Now go”

Doing as his friend said Jonathan got the body to Snowman without any trouble. Back at the apartment he and Leroy get the story together for the police.
Jonathan interrupted a burglary and saved Leroy’s live in the process chasing off his attackers who smashed up the place with sledgehammers,

Leroy spent the next three months in hospital while Jonathan got the gym renovated for use with a wheelchair. The day Leroy came home the two sat down that night and discussed what had happened.

“ While I’ve been laid up I’ve been thinking, what you did shouldn’t have been possible. That punch should have floored him not knocked him through two walls. Thus I got the nurse in the hospital to get me some articles I remember reading a long time back. They were by a doctor who believed the human race was evolving and part of that evolution was the development of abilities out of the norm, he called them mutations. That curtain people were born with these powers and that they became active a puberty or under stressful situations. I think you could be one of these so called mutants.”

Over the following months and under Leroy’s guidance Jonathan started to test his powers. He was able to punch through 20 inch sheet metal and concrete, lift tones in weight, jump long distances, take a bullet in the chest, be hit by a car and still be standing in the same spot, climb shear walls effortlessly. and react faster than he ever had before.

One night after training Leroy sat down with Jonathan.

“ Look man you know I’m not a religious man but you’ve been given powers for some reason you used them to save me I think you should use them to protect others in trouble you mustn’t let this gift go to waste”.

After another year of training Leroy felt Jonathan was ready to make his first public appearance. Around this time more and more people with strange abilities and powers were appearing in public, some fighting for good some for their own ends. Jonathan believed he could make a difference and so STONEWALL was born.


Note : Jonathan’s powers are not strength based unknown to him it is all mental in nature. His power stems from his wish to be stronger and faster than others. His powers are telekinetic but his mind has moulded it in such a way that it has no range.
Thus when he’s lifting heavy loads it is his TK. When he leaps it is his TK pushing him away from the ground. When he is hit by a bullet or other weapon it is his TK slowing down the attack to make it harmless. When he is hit by a car it is his TK that holds him in place. When he hits something it is his TK ripping it apart. And when he climbs walls it is his TK holding him in place.

It is not known at this stage if he will ever be able to use his powers at distance but then it is impossible to predict how his powers will develop.

[J.T.]

Ok here's another character background for you all to have a look at:

SEA HAWK

Jake had always been a good swimmer though he never belonged to the swimming club in school. He had two passions one was anything to do with the sea and the other was pirate films. On his 14th birthday he and his friends went to the beach for a party (his parents went along to supervise). While they were out on surfboards one of Jake's friends, Steve, got into difficulty and was pulled under by a strong current.
Without thinking of his own safety Jake dived in but he to became court in the current as well. As the last breath was snatched from his throat Jake started to relax and realised that his lungs didn’t hurt anymore looking round he saw Steve floating next to him. Grabbing his friend he started to swim to the surface the current no longer having an effect on him. As they broke the surface hands grabbed them from the rescue boat that his dad had called when they first got into difficulty. Jake realised something had changed inside him but he kept this from his parents. Over the years Jake experimented with this new found ability and discovered not only could he breath under water he could control the very particles of H2O with his mind. After finishing school he went on to college to study marine biology, three years later, having achieved a first class BSc with honours, he started a job off the coast of Africa. While there he noticed that his skin tone was starting to take on a watery blue colour and that his cloths tended to be damp all the time. It was around this time he started noticing a decline in the dolphin population, which he couldn't explain. That night he took his small boat and went out to follow the dolphins to discover what was wrong. It wasn't long before the course was found - poachers. Being rather naive he shouted for them to stop the killing and put his boat between the dolphins and the poachers boat. Poachers being what they are shot him. He fell into the water and was gone. As the poachers got back to their bloody work the seas started to get choppy then rough then a full-blown gale started. The strange thing was the air was still so what was coursing the sea to boil? The now frightened poachers soon found out, as up from the depths on a fountain of water rose a blue skinned human. It didn't take long for the poachers ship to sink taking all hands on board to the bottom of the sea, all that is but one.
He told the coast guard when he was picked up that a merman had spared him so he could warn all poachers of the seas that they were now protected and anyone who dared defile them would be punished. So it came to pass that this traumatic incident released the last of Jake's mutant powers changing him forever. He knew he could never go back to his old life and thus set his small boat adrift. A week later the search for Jake was called off and he was officially recorded as missing at sea. The sea is now Jake's home he discovered a cave system under a small outcrop of rocks and uses this as his home.
He now dedicates his life to keeping the seas clean and stopping man abusing it. He is not a naive idealist anymore he knows that man needs what the sea provides to survive but he will not stand by and watch man rape the seas needlessly. The local coast guard now of him and he has used his powers many times in helping them find ships in distress. With His love of pirate films he made a costume for himself in the style of that warn by stars such as Errol Flynn and goes by the name Sea Hawk after one of his favourite pirate characters.