Growing up in Brookside was never going to be easy, and Grant learned that quick growing up. Real early on in his life, things were fine; hell, by the standards of this side of the city, they were fantastic. His father, while not the most well-known Hero, was one, and did a damn fine job providing for the family. And his mom, well...Even back then she wasn't all there, but she always did her best. Back then, at least.
That status quo changed when his pops got caught up in a fight with a seriously bad news villain; by the time everything was said and done, the news was already reporting the death of Mighty Man. Didn't take long for his mom to break down, and for little Grant, well...He wasn't even old enough to really process properly. All he knew was his dad screwed up, and now he wasn't coming home. From that day on, he resented his old man for being that weak, that if
he was stronger, none of what happened next woulda happened.
But, it happened.
Pretty quickly, Grant began figuring out what his mom's whole deal was, now that the filer of his dad wasn't there. Turns out she was a recovering drug addict; and not just any kind. She was hopped up on Meta-boosters, the kinda shit that'd turn a dude who could make a blade pop out his elbow into a storm of razor-sharp blades slicing ya into ribbons. With his father gone, she reverted pretty hard. But young Grant only knew that his mom was being real unstable and taking some weird stuff. The full story was that she had another thing she reverted back to...
Crime.
Little Grant knew she was putting money on the table, and that's all that mattered to him. His mum, though, was busy putting people in the dirt and breaking into stores for a quick buck. Truth be told, the boy's just lucky he grew up in Brookside of all places, or else his mom probably woulda been eventually caught. However, she managed to stay under the radar for long enough, and he grew up....About the same way every Brookside kid did. Crummy schools, shitty social life, the digs. 'Course, he was also picked on about his dad, cuz kid's can be ruthless that way. He got known pretty quick for being the kinda boy to start fights, landing himself in detention more times than he can count.
The dynamic changed once he hit high school. Over summer break, Grant had....Quite the growth spurt. Going from about 5'7 at age 13 to 6'3 with giant arms at age 14. Definitely abnormal. He didn't think too hard about it...But of course, the other boys did. Didn't take long for some of the older kids to get pissed off at the guy who walked in freshman year looking like a full-blown body builder. So, like normal, he got in a fight with a kid. Y'know what ain't normal?
Throwing a punch, expecting to bruise the dude a bit, and instead breaking your own arm alongside the kid's whole left ribcage.
Needless to say, he had to take a little more than detention for this one. Doesn't help that while he was in ER, the kid died from a punctured lung and internal bleeding. Got stuck in juvie for a few solid months, but got off due to good behavior and a generous court ruling, since there was no way that Grant would've known he'd...Do that. Speaking of, during his time in juvie, they of course fixed his arm up and had some Meta professionals take a look at what was going on.
Turns out, beyond some latent physical bulk from his late pops beginning to spring up, he had his very own Meta ability; he was able to rotate his shoulders at incredible speeds, not only gathering kinetic energy but also building up incredible speeds for, well....Punching things. Only catch? Turns out, according to the eggheads, his body couldn't handle the power output of his ability, and they suggested he refrain from using it whenever possible.
Clearly they underestimated the drive of this kid. You just told a boy that notoriously gets into fights and doesn't stop until his opponent's a crumpled mess, that he can absolutely decimate enemies with a flurry of blows so fast that the human eye couldn't even register it, and you tell him
not to use it? Hah...Funny.
Needless to say, after he was out of juvie (and having to calm down his mum having a drug-induced panic attack over the whole incident), he set to training his body to the absolute limit. If he had power....Then he'd use it, professionals be damned. Turns out, once he finally came back to school, that his stunt on that kid had earned him a lot more attention than he was used to. Both the good and the bad.
Some came to fear and shun him, yet others, outcasts among the outcasts of Brookside...They respected him, and rallied behind him. Truth be told? He wasn't really sure what to make of it. He never really was the leading type, and he still ain't to this day. But back then, he made it work, because having anyone to rely on in Brookside is a boon you simply can't pass up.
Didn't take long for his troop of pals to become a gang, emboldened by Grant's absolute strength. Even while the group was just a bunch of high schoolers, they started making a name for themselves on the streets of Brookside. Honestly though, he didn't lead the group so much as his right-hand lady, Mira (or Miranda, if you wanted a few broken teeth). She was one of the first people Grant came to respect, having actually fought her and lost, breaking his arms yet again in the process of that fight. Her only power was an insane amount of durability, but truth be told, it's all you need against a guy who breaks his own body to fight. Point is, he put his full trust in her to do things right by the gang, and she did. Simple as that.
Eventually, Grant...Didn't graduate high school. Honestly, were you expecting anything less? He did manage to get to senior year before losing the will to give a fuck about education though, so give him some credit there. From then on, his little ragamuffin bunch became a full-fledged street gang, becoming mainly known for never using weapons and all having powers, being dubbed by other Brookside gangs as The Mutants.
Eventually though, however well the gang was doing, Grant chose to step down and leave it to Mira. Doing petty crimes and fighting off rival gangs wasn't fulfilling him in the way he needed. So, with that, he said his goodbyes to the group and stepped onto his own path...Though still visiting on occasion.
In due time, Grant bounced between job to job. Usually hired muscle. Was a bouncer at a bar for a few months before he socked a dude's jaw clean off. His next big break, however, was in the shadows, as he heard whispers of an underground fighting circuit, made for Metahumans to fight tooth and claw for cash prizes. Sounded like his kinda place...
And for a time, it was. Early on, the fights for a younger Grant were brutal and exhilarating, each one more dangerous than the last, and each one a win for the crowd-dubbed Death Arms. The paydays certainly weren't bad either; it was a nice change of pace for him to be able to afford more than apartment rent and ramen noodles every month. Over time, though, the opponents just kept on putting up less of a challenge. Within his golden years as Death Arms, he became notorious for either instantly
K.O.ing his opposition (or sometimes killing them, but hey, it happens), or leaving them so battered from the first assault they simply surrender. For the crowds, it was incredible to watch him decimate enemies, but for him, it was starting to become dull...
Inevitably, the people who actually had to pay fighters were starting to get sick of this champion individual. Slowly but surely, the shady higher-ups of this operation began cutting into the paychecks he was supposed to be getting. Grant might not be the brightest, but he caught on quick enough; and he wasn't pleased. He put those assholes in their place (though he didn't kill any of them....At least, he's pretty sure he didn't) and took the money he was due, and with that, he cut ties with the underground ring.
Nowadays, while he ain't proud about it, much less happy, he's more or less a common smash-and-grab robber making ends meet. But perhaps a lucky break will come through for him soon...
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