Rade

All-Star Marvel: Age of Heroes

HenryJonesJr said
Posts for both my characters coming in the next few days. And Rade, I haven't forgotten about your PM.

Gotcha.

My second Spidey post will be up by this time next week, though I'm aiming for this weekend.

All-Star Marvel: Age of Heroes

I'm just glad you all didn't murder me after all.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

Here you go. I'm reapplying for Batgirl. My physical copy of my old CS was lost, so I had to redo this, which means it isn't as detailed as the last one had been. Oh well; sue me.

Voila

| Identity |

Harleen "Harley" Quinzel - Batgirl

| Origin & Backstory |

Harleen was born to Paul and Sharon Quinzel on January 26, 1997. she was an only child for the first few years of her life, but in early 2001 Sharon became pregnant with a second baby, a boy they planned to name Barry. this news delighted the entire family, especially Paul who had always wanted a son. Unfortunately, though, during the birth there were complications and both Sharon and the child were lost.

Harley, although she missed her mother dearly, was too young to fully comprehend the scope of the tragedy and was spared the same fate as her father. Paul became a broken a broken man after his wife's death, a shadow of his former self, and threw himself fully into his work as the Director of Psychology at the Arkham Institute. As such, Paul was a poor father, rarely giving Harleen the attention she deserved. Instead, he would more often than not drop his daughter off at her best friend's house, Pamela Isley, under the adult supervision and care of Pam's parents. This routine of practically living at the Isley's persisted into the girls' teenage years.

At the age of ten, Harley was accepted into the middle school division of the Gotham Academy for Higher Learning and the Arts on a scholarship program, having aced the entrance exams. During her first year she joined the junior varsity gymnastics squad with Pam - who had also been admitted to the school through her parents' wallets and above average test scores. It was here she met fellow squad member Bette Kane. Two years later, in seventh grade, the three girls were introduced to transfer student Artemis Crock who also joined the squad. During these middle school years, Harleen's father made her take self-defense lessons, as he knew full well the dangers of Gotham City.

After eighth grade, and at the beginning of ninth, Harleen and the other girls transitioned to GAHLA's high school and all joined the varsity gymnast division. Artemis also picked up track and field - mainly archery - and Harleen joined her as a member of track - in relay, the 200m dash, and the 300m dash. That same year an eighth grader named Barbara Gordon - who had received a similar scholarship as Harley and even higher test scores - was admitted to the varsity squad despite only being thirteen and at least a year younger than everyone else. With her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Alexander Knox, she joined Harley's circle of close friends. Also during this term, Bette and Harley join the drama club, and Pam starts GAHLA's first environmental awareness and protection club.

Paul Quinzel even appears to make an attempt at being a better parent, and begins to pick Harley up from Pam's house every day and spend some time with her. Surrounded by friends, and with her father making an effort, Harley was truly happy. Sadly, though, her happiness came to a brutal end as tragedy once again struck the Quinzel family. On June 6th of 2013, Paul was murdered shortly after picking his daughter up from her friend's house. They were on their way home when they became stuck in a traffic jam. After only a brief few minutes of being idle in their car, a man approached their vehicle and, with no preamble, aimed a gun at Paul and Harleen. Paul, reacting in defense of his daughter, leapt at the open window, throwing his body on the weapon and taking both the bullets meant for him and those meant for Harley. In the confusion and chaos created by the panicking surrounding drivers and passengers, the mysterious gunman disappeared, slipping away without a trace. The police ruled the homicide as a random killing, and Harleen was left without a family.

Almost immediately she was placed in the Martha Kane Foundation for Troubled Youths until a new, suitable home could be found for her. Pamela tried to convince her parents to adopt Harley, and they would have, but unbeknownst to their daughter the Isley's were having financial problems and as such wouldn't have been able to fully support another teenager long term. Surprisingly, though, only a week into her time at the foundation Harley was placed under the guardianship of one Bruce Wayne. She later learned that she wasn't the only ward Mr. Wayne had taken on when she met Richard Grayson, another recently orphaned teenager. Despite Bruce and Richard - and the manor's not-quite-butler, Alfred Pennyworth - attempting to welcome Harleen with open arms, she isolated herself and wallowed in her anger and pain.

Bruce, though, apparently saw within Harley something that he recognized in himself at her age, and in August offered to give her self-defense training to channel her anger through. Still, Harley had lost faith in the world and purpose in herself. So, to give her renewed hope and meaning, Bruce revealed to Harleen his greatest secret; he was, in fact, Gotham's Dark Knight, the Batman. This seemed to work, and shortly after she began intensive training with Bruce, who promised her that she would eventually join him in his fight against crime.

This training with Bruce and Richard - who she had taken to calling Dick, and had also discovered the secret of Batman even before Harley - lasted non-stop for months, not even slowing down for the start of school and the tenth grade. In order to maintain both her grades and training regimen, Harley dropped the drama club. As the months continued, Harley began to grow impatient with Bruce who repeatedly rejected her attempts to join him on his nightly patrols. This came to a head shortly after midnight on New Year's Day. Harleen had stayed home training rigorously instead of going to a party with friends in order to impress Bruce with her resolve. Instead of returning to the manor on time as was planned, though, Bruce went out on another solo investigation involving suspicious house fire at the mayor's residence. This infuriated the temperamental Harley who, after grabbing what limited supplies she had available to her, stormed out intending to perform her own patrol of Gotham.

Clad in dark, bulky clothing and a pink ski-mask, Harley came across crime alley where she found half a dozen thugs in the middle of a transaction involving hardcore drugs. Seeing her chance to help out her city and remove this collection of scum from the streets, Harley jumped them. She was able to take out the first two easily enough with the element of surprise on her side, but the other four reacted quickly, surrounding her. Three were brandishing knives while the fourth had a wooden bat. Moving fast, she utilized the skills she had learned from Bruce, and disarmed two, knocking them unconscious in the process. The bat-user managed to club her across her back, though, and when she turned to deal with him she felt a sharp, stinging sensation in her left side. The last knife wielder had stabbed her and she was losing blood. Had it not been for her leather jacket, the wound would have been deeper and most likely have been lethal.

Despite this, Harley managed to stay on her feet long enough to dispatch the man before collapsing to the ground, leaving only the baseball bat thug who quickly advanced on his fallen attacker. However, at that moment Bruce, as Batman, swooped down from above and knocked out the thug with a single punch. Luckily for Harleen, Dick had reported Harley's actions to Bruce from the Batcave, and Bruce had tracked her down from the receiver he had placed on her bicycle. Bruce, though upset over her brash actions, had been impressed with how Harley had handled herself, and he finally decided both she and Richard were ready to join him in the field. Once Harleen had healed from her injury, Bruce presented his wards with both protective outfits similar to his own, and the code-names Batgirl and Robin.

The following month was hectic for Harley as she was thrust into the world of Batman with three concurrent cases; the mass-arsonist known as Firefly, the mayor-murdering Anarky, and the vengeful Freeze. Working alongside Batman and Robin, Harley fought and participated in the defeat of all three. Afterwards, however, a seeming lull fell over the city as no more 'supervillains' would make an appearance for some time. Harleen satisfied herself with taking down common criminals, and, with Robin, putting considerable dents in Gotham's organized crime.

In July of that year, Bruce was approached by his fellow vigilante, Tarantula, who made his home in the neighboring city of Blüdhaven‎. One of Blüdhaven‎'s own gang leaders, the Black Mask, was causing a larger stir than normal and Tarantula requested Batman's assistance. Batgirl and Robin would also tag along and lend their own help to the investigation and ensuing fight. Nothing further would occur until October when the Circus of Strange rolled into down at the Haly's Fairground - the site of a massacre of a similar circus two years earlier. The circus, under the guise of Haly's friendly replacement, lured innocents to their show where chaos soon ensued as three of the lead showcases, Big Top - an extremely obese and bearded, but strong woman - and Pyg and Toad - two freakish men in eponymous animal masks who were obsessed with making the 'perfect' subservient humans by fusing masks to the faces of and lobotomizing their victims - began to murder the guests.

Batman, Batgirl, and Robin soon arrived on scene - revealing themselves for the first time in broad daylight - and took down the three circus freaks. However, Joker - the madman responsible for the Haly's circus massacre and the death of Richard's family - emerged and revealed himself as the true ringmaster of the Circus, along with his mutated accomplice, Killer Croc. While Robin rushed after Joker haphazardly to avenge his parents, a savage and difficult fight raged on between the giant crocodile-man and the two Bat-themed vigilantes. After a grueling battle which left both Batman and Batgirl injured, and the Joker seriously beaten at the hands of Robin, all six of the psychopathic murderers were arrested by the GCPD.

It's been two months since then, and Harley is looking forward to her next case and some more action.

| Character Notes |

To be filled in later.

| Powers & Abilities |

Harleen is a highly skilled gymnast, and a talented athlete all-around. Richard has also trained her in parkour. From her time in her school's drama club, Harley gained some skill in acting and disguise. As a young girl her father enrolled her in self-defense courses, and since her induction into Batman's war on crime, Harleen has been instructed in a variety of fighting styles. As such, she has become an adept martial artist.

She has received training in the following: Tae Kwon Do, Jujitsu, Judo, both traditional boxing and kickboxing, Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Karate, Krav Maga, Aikido, Savate, Hapkido, Ninjitsu, and the Keysi-Fighting Method. She has become skilled in utilizing a blend of some of these forms in what has evolved into her own unique, idiosyncratic fighting style. Along with her skills in the largely barehanded methods above, Harley has gained some experience in stick and sword fighting. Bruce has also imposed upon Harleen rigorous training in stealth, escapology, tactical analysis, tracking, interrogation, and investigation methods - though her deductive skills aren't improving much due to her impatience.

Aside from all of this, Harley is blessed with a natural, gifted intellect. Unfortunately, her impatience and sometimes rash demeanor occasionally renders this potential advantage moot.

| How is this character different? |

My Batgirl is a teenage Harley Quinn as opposed to any previous incarnation seen. Other than that, I'm too lazy to list more differences.

| What is your goal with this character? |

To eventually have her kick Batman's ass. Oh, and to make sure Sloth doesn't force his Dick on Harley.

| Sample Post |

Harley paced back and forth in the huge cavern some distance behind Alfred, who had come down to join Harleen and Richard, as he did every night, a couple hours ago. Harley had given up her training exercises a little after one in the morning; she had been growing exhausted and Bruce was taking a long time to return. Too long. She figured she would shower back upstairs to wash up after her workout, and by the time she returned Bruce would either have gotten back from his party or at least radioed in to inform them he was on his way.

It had been several minutes since her shower had ended, though, and Bruce had still yet to be heard from. Harley wasn't worried of course, Bruce was more than capable of handling himself, but she was annoyed and frustrated with him. He was supposed to have been back by now, to prepare for his nightly patrol, and Bruce was supposed to finally allow Harleen to go with him. She had thought about this for days; this was to be her moment, her chance, and Bruce was ruining it.

"What could be taking him so long?" She asked nobody in particular for the eighth time in half as many minutes, the aggravation evident in her voice.

All-Star Marvel: Age of Heroes

Spidey post up, finally. You may all murder me for my delayed-ness if you find the post unsatisfactory.

The first post is pretty much all just teenage drama. Enjoy the whining.

All-Star Marvel: Age of Heroes

Two Months Ago...

I thought this would be harder. And, sure, when I first began I had some trouble. But, really, that was all from nerves. I mean, you find yourself face-to-barrel with a .45 semi-automatic for the first time in your life, and you're going to have some performance issues. But now, now that I had been busting up the general scum of the Earth on a regular basis it wasn't so hard. In fact, it was almost easy.

And why wouldn't it be easy? I have superpowers, after all. No bragging intended, but I'm pretty damn spectacular. Muggers, robbers, whatever. They're just not a challenge. Even the other day when there were almost ten guys coming at me - and these were big, burly men - I took care of them lickity-split. Benefits of having a nifty little, omni-directional, early warning system in my head; nobody could touch me.

I knew that I shouldn't complain. I must have been crazy to. Maybe being bitten by a genetically engineered spider makes one crazy. I mean, I'd have to be genuinely messed up in the brain to get upset that fighting crime was too easy. It's not like I wanted someone to hurt me, or to be more of a danger than they already were. Or maybe I did. I didn't know what I wanted. I just knew that when I was on patrol, and I spotted a crime my blood got pumping and an adrenaline rush kicked in, and then everything would just end before it even really had a chance to start. It was boring. I would get so pumped up, so excited, and then it was just... over. It was frustrating, and annoying, and... and... anti-climatic! That was the word; anti-climatic. I knew it was ridiculous to feel that way, but I just couldn't help it. I needed a challenge. Anything, I didn't care what. I just needed to face something a little more difficult than the thugs I'd encountered so far.


Present Day
September 2nd, 2013. 7:38 am
Queens, New York

I thought this would be easier, I really did. Just goes to show how much of a fool Peter Parker is. I just got so caught up in the routine of being Spider-Man that I didn't stop to consider how difficult this would be.

I stood in front of Midtown High School with my hands in my pocket and my backpack slung across my shoulder. I was tired, having only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before. My patrol lasted longer than I had expected; apparently during the last night of August criminals liked to come out in swarms, committing one burglary after one mugging after another. Or, maybe they all just knew that my first day of school started today. If they did it was a brilliant strategy. Either way, I wasn't prepared for school to start back up.

Harry Osborn, my best friend and the only person in the world aware of my double-life, walked beside me as we headed toward the school's entrance. I saw him eyeing me strangely out the corner of my eye. I was about to ask him what the problem was when he spoke.

"Hey, man, you alright? You look a little... sickly."

"I'm fine," I said. Evidently I wasn't too convincing as I could still see him casting glances at me, concern in his eyes.

"Really, I'm good." I lowered my voice and looked around to make sure nobody was within listening distance. "I was just out late last night doing you-know-what. I had already skipped lunch before going out, and patrol took so long that I missed dinner, too."

We approached our lockers, which were only a few feet away from each other, and stopped.

"By the time I got back home it was so late, and I was so tired that I just went straight to bed. And, to top it all off, I forgot to set my alarm so I was late getting up and didn't have time for breakfast. Aunt May wasn't too happy with me."

"How'd she handle you coming home so late?" Harry asked.

"She didn't know I was gone. Snuck out the window again. As far as she was concerned I was up in my room reading before crashing early. Which means she thought I had overslept, and was why she was so upset with me."

"Oh."

We started to unpack our bags, loading up our lockers with all the notebooks, folders, textbooks, and supplies we would need for the first semester. I had ended up having to take an extra history course this year as all the 'fun' electives were full. Probably shouldn't have taken all the acting classes my Freshman year; now I'll be swamped with homework, which would only interfere with my patrol time.

After a few moments of silence, Harry piped back up with his new favorite question.

"So you are absolutely, one hundred percent okay?"

I sighed. Sometimes Harry fixated on one topic for too long. "Yes, Harry, I'm completely fine. Just a little hungry. You know how I am on an empty stomach. I'll be fine by lunch. Stop worrying."

It was true. Ever since I was bitten and my body underwent some changes I felt really weak when I went without food for extended periods of time; weaker than was normal for just a mild case of an empty stomach. I had theorized a couple months back that I likely had an increased metabolism now, which meant my body processed things faster and I would need to eat on a more frequent basis. I might have felt weak at the moment, but as soon as I ate something I'd be more than okay.

Harry nodded. "Okay. Well, I'm glad you're alright 'cause you're gonna need to be to handle this." He pointed to the left, over my shoulder.

"Peter Parker!" The voice was loud. And angry.

I winced and spun around, preparing for the worst.

Gwen Stacy, my other best friend, stormed towards me, her eyes were daggers; sharp and piercing. She was my height, maybe an inch shorter, with blonde hair which had grown longer since the last time I had seen her, now nearly reaching half-way down her back. And that was the problem; it had been over two weeks since I had physically seen her, and almost as long since we had spoken. She walked right up to me, not stopping until our faces were only a few inches apart. I saw Harry take a few steps back, distancing himself from me.

"Eight years! Eight years we've been friends!" Gwen shouted loud enough that it drew the attention of others in the hallway. "Eight years and suddenly you just, what, forget about me? We live a few houses down from each other, Peter, but you couldn't bother to at least stop by and say hello? Almost three weeks and you didn't once stop by. Not once. It's been ten days since you've even bothered to return a call or respond to my texts. Are you avoiding me, or did you just wake up three weeks ago and decide to be a jerk?"

I could see tears welling up in her eyes behind her glasses, and her voice started to waver. She was hurt and angry, and I couldn't exactly blame her. Ever since we had first become friends, we hadn't spent more than a few days apart, and only then when we were separated by camp or she was visiting a relative, after all we lived on the same street and could hang out at any time. And once we had gotten old enough to have our own computers and cellphones, we had never gone a full day without being in contact.

But ever since I had become a vigilante and adopted the Spider-Man persona I had grown distant. Not on purpose, of course, but I had absorbed myself almost fully into my crime-fighting lifestyle. If Harry didn't know about my secret, if he wasn't the only person I could discuss my other life with, I doubt I would have spent as much time with him over the Summer as I had. I hated to admit it, and it made me sound like a bad friend, but it was true. I had become so obsessed in atoning for the sin of Uncle Ben's death that I had neglected Gwen; one of the few people in this world that I truly cared about and knew cared about me. And I didn't even completely realize that until I had come face-to-face with her. I was pretty sure that was not what Uncle Ben had meant when he told me with his dying words to live an honest and responsible life. I would definitely need to start balancing my responsibilities to this city with my responsibilities as a friend.

"Gwen, I'm so sorry. I know that probably doesn't mean much coming from me, but I am. I'm so sorry. I was an ass. Am an ass. I just..." I struggled for a moment to come up with an excuse that didn't involve me swinging through Manhattan in bright tights. "I was just being pitiful and wallowing in self-misery. After my uncle died I just couldn't take it. I thought I could pull myself together, and for a while I did, but during the Summer it all just hit me again. I know that doesn't excuse my behavior. I was a horrible friend to you, and I shouldn't have ignored you. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I'll make it up to you. I will."

I hated lying to her, and using Uncle Ben's death as an excuse made my stomach churn. It was a despicable thing to do, but I couldn't tell her the truth. I didn't know how she would react to the knowledge that I risk my life everyday dressed in spandex, but I doubted it would be good.

As I lied right to Gwen's face, I could see her eyes soften, which only made me more disgusted with myself. There she was, already showing me sympathy, and I was relieved she had believed me. This was not what I had intended when I started this Spider-Man stuff.

"You should have called." Was all Gwen said, in a near whisper, before she walked off.

Even while my heart crumbled at the pain I had caused my friend, I breathed a sigh of relief because I knew she would forgive me. She'd probably give me a hard time over the next few days, but I knew by this time next month we'd be back to normal. Assuming I was able to properly balance my two lives in time.

This definitely was not as easy as I had thought it would be.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

ErsatzEmperor said
I know. I don't think I had an internet when I could be.Penguin CS up soon, or I shall personally, forcibly remove myself from this site and cease wasting anyone else's time. I'm annoyed with how easy I'm finding myself to be sidetracked recently.

Does that mean your ASM apps will be completed, too?
It's difficult finding focus sometimes, I know. None of us want you to remove yourself, though. Maybe just a strong kick in the keester.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

I had never been grounded as a teenager. Would have ignored any grounding, anyways, had my parents tried to.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

Rade said
True, I suppose Gowi could have altered the colors of the spectrum, but then it isn't based on the rainbow anymore. Anywho, I suppose I'll be reapplying as Batgirl. My CS will be up no later than Thursday.

As I noted in ASM, I'll actually be busy tomorrow with real life stuff. However, Friday, for sure, the app will be up.

All-Star Marvel: Age of Heroes

Rade said
My IC post will be up tomorrow. I was unable to get computer access today, but guaranteed it for Thursday.

I lied. Friday. It'll be up Friday...
Sorry, was just informed my presence will be required elsewhere tomorrow. I'll make sure my second IC post won't take as long to get up as this first one is taking.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

Hey, don't underestimate those three seconds. That's a lot of hard work.