Editing Masks: Spires - Radical (section)

==Backstory==

I used to get bullied in grade school. I didn’t like it, so I begged my mom to let me take martial arts. She said no. I learned how to run and hide from the bullies. Then my little brother started school. He had asthma and couldn't run from trouble.

There was an old retired Marine named Brady that lived a few streets over. He was the neighborhood grumpy old man. We snuck into his yard one day while hiding from our tormentors. He made a snide remark about how back in his day men would stand up to bullies, not run from them.

I snapped back something like, "You wouldn't go to war without a gun, but want me to go fight without knowing how?"

Brady smiled... he liked my insubordinate streak and decided to train me. "I dont care what your mom says kid... or if she even knows. It takes a man to make a man.”

That's when I started lying to my mom and training. At first the lie was science club... then language study... then chess team. I wasn't happy about lying to my Mom, but my little brother was safe. That's when I started to understand that sometimes you might have to do a little bad in order to do a bigger good.

He was less Mr. Miyagi and almost a bully himself... never saying a mean word when a smack to the face or punch to the gut would do. He was hard... but I learned his lessons, and never forgot them.

He died a couple years later... trying to stand up to a pack of local thugs who were attacking his neighbor. He's the other main reason I became a hero... sometimes you gotta stand up for what's right, especially when the costs may be high.

I’ve been to a few different real martial arts schools since then... with forged permission slips. I learned fast... I credit that to Brady's teaching methods... all the other schools felt easy in comparison. I'd usually leave a school about the time the sensei would start pushing me to do tournaments.

My mom may work two jobs, but she'd notice if I started leaving town for karate tournaments.

My training is versatile... some may even say eclectic... but I haven't technically earned a black belt in any style.

'''When did I first put on my costume?'''<br>
2 years ago. Our neighborhood isn’t one of the worst in the city, but every so often a battle between supers will come to our little corner of Halycon. After a particularly long battle I found one of the Night Hunter's gravity traps and was able to take it apart. While it focused on doubling gravity to a small part of a person's body, I found out that I could extend the effect over my entire body if I extended the conduits out to my extremities, though the strength was greatly reduced.

I was going to use it for my science fair project, but when some of my friends started getting beat up at night, I felt like I had to do something radical. So I did. I purchased a knock off Under Armour body suit(slightly used) and hot glued the sensors to the inside. That suit and a makeshift mask were all I had when I became the Radical.

'''Who, outside of the Team, thinks I shouldn't be a hero?'''<br>
My little brother Chris doesn't want me to be a hero, which really hurts because I became a hero for him in a lot of ways. He doesn't want me to get hurt, and he's threatened to tell Mom when I came home really banged up. I talked him out of it, but know it's only a matter of time.

'''Why do I try to be a hero?'''<br>
It’s fun. I grew up watching their exploits… and like every other kid in the world, always wanted to grow up to be a hero. I get a thrill every time I go out in costume, but it’s not just because I’m living my childhood dream.

The City’s not broken, but it’s certainly stuck in its ways. People going about their daily lives never even questioning why things are the way they are. Never challenging the status quo. That’s just wrong… it has to be. When things are wrong somebody has to stand up and make some noise. Whether it was the Revolutionary War or the civil rights movement, progress only happens when somebody rises up and demands change.

That’s what I want to be. I want to be one of the people who helped usher in change and progress. Not some kid who happened to stand on the sidelines of history as Halcyon fell further into corruption.

'''Why do I care about the team?'''<br>
Together Everybody Achieves More. (real answer pending)

'''When our team first came together...'''<br>

'''Relationships'''<br>
Kara/Wrath is awesome, and I take every chance you get to hang out with them. I've got to prove yourself to Kid Circe before you feel like a real hero.

'''Drives'''
*Take down a threat all on my own.
*Help a teammate when they need me most.
*Get a new costume.
*Stop a fight with calm words.