InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Screws fall out all the time"

conwell. (conwell) wrote,
@ 2010-05-27 22:00:00

superheroism

NAME: Alexander Braden Conwell

CODENAME: Blaze

AGE & DOB: 17 & March 3, 1993

SQUAD: The Outsiders

HOMETOWN: Nova City

FAMILY: James "Jimmy" Conwell (father, 38, incarcerated); Judy Conwell (mother, 37)

SUPERPOWER: Fire and heat manipulation. Alex's power is actually psionic at its root. He has the ability to manipulate heat and fire; he can control flames by increasing or decreasing their heat, size, intensity, and he's even learning to manipulate them into more precise shapes and movements. He can extinguish flames or dissipate heat at will, but he has not yet learned to create fire of his own yet; his instructors seem to believe that his powers will expand to include that capability at some point. His manipulation of fire is directly related to his degree of concentration and his stamina. At the current time, he cannot sustain or manipulate large flames for an extended period of time. Small and medium-sized flames are fairly easily manipulated or extinguished, but he tires even from that if he maintains it for an especially long period of time.

BIOGRAPHY & ORIGIN: The circumstances surrounding Alexander Conwell's birth were not what you would call ideal. His parents had married young - right out of high school, in fact - despite the disapproval of Judy's family. They were high school sweethearts in the most peculiar sense, a match that was seemingly ill-fitting and destined to end once they crossed the stage to get their diplomas. Rather than parting ways after graduation, it was announced that they planned to marry, whether or not they had the blessing of their families. This announcement and the subsequent wedding (a small, private affair at city hall) caused a rift between Judy and her family that would never quite be repaired; in their eyes, she was throwing her life and potential away for a young hoodlum who would never amount to anything. In some perverse way, they were right. Jimmy was a young man who most would consider to be from "the wrong side of the tracks," to use the old cliche. While he did love Judy and wanted to provide a good life for her, his childhood and the continued influence of his brothers and childhood friends proved to be a powerful deterrent to his good intentions. This, of course, was only exacerbated by the secret he'd been harboring since early adolescence: he'd developed the power to control and manipulate fire. He had no explanation for his powers, but over the years, he gained a haphazard control over them. His brothers had been dealing in shadier profitable ventures for years, so when they learned of their brother's powers, they saw it as an opportunity. They were the brains and he was the powerhouse of the operation. At first, their schemes worked well. Jimmy kept the truth of his influx of money secret from Judy, instead telling her that he'd gotten a raise at work.

About two years into their marriage, they welcomed their first child into the family, a son they named Alexander. Having a new baby to provide for put a financial strain on the young family, which subsequently led Jimmy to take on riskier jobs to make more profit. However, as the brothers got more ambitious (and greedy, to be honest), things began to fall apart. Jimmy's control of his powers was tentative at best at times, and both the physical demands of the jobs and the stress of it all began to get to him. Judy was balancing her just as a secretary and taking care of Alex when she was home, and she remained in the dark about her husband's illicit activities. Until one of the brothers' schemes went awry and they were all arrested, that is. This happened when Alex was only three years old, so he remembers very little of this turmoil himself. Judy was devastated and all of the brothers found themselves in prison, so she was left alone to raise and provide for Alex.

Money was tight during Alex's childhood, but he never knew that he lacked for anything. He was an imaginative little boy who could entertain himself for hours with only a few action figures or even the pots and pans in the kitchen. He had a loving, attentive mother to boot, so he was a bright, precocious boy despite the family's somewhat sordid past. Things changed when Alex started school. Several students knew the truth about Alex's father's imprisonment, and as with all schools, there were bullies who exploited this information. Alex was always hearing taunts about his father, how his father was a loser and a failure and he'd gotten himself locked up. Alex didn't take these concerns to his mother or teachers. Instead, embarrassment and humiliation turned to anger. And with the onset of this bad temper, his proud streak reared its head early and often. He wasn't the biggest or the strongest kid around, but he was the most tenacious. Even if he was outnumbered or outmatched, he would go down swinging - and then probably push himself to his feet and start swinging again. Needless to say, his smart mouth and bulldog tenacity combined to result in a lot of black eyes, split lips, various injuries, and detentions at school. His mother was exasperated and at a loss for how to stop her son's behavior, but nothing deterred Alex. In his mind, he was defending his family and proving that he wasn't a loser like his father.

Such behavior continued through elementary and middle school. Alex did get in fewer fights, but only because his classmates began to realize that he was never going to back down from a confrontation. His temper was still short and incendiary, and his stubborn streak was a mile wide. While it wasn't the ideal scenario, his goofy, playful side presented itself in numerous pranks and hijinks that left his mother and teachers at their wit's end. He was, to put it lightly, incorrigible.

Adolescence is not an easy time for any child; for Alex, hitting adolescence proved to have added complications. As if dealing with growth spurts and his voice changing and all of that fun stuff wasn't enough, he was also dealing with a force he couldn't explain. It started when his mother would hug him on his return home from school and remark that he was burning up. However, he felt perfectly fine despite the fact that she was convinced he was running a high fever. Shortly thereafter, he started having incidents where fires would inexplicably start when he was around. The first time he got angry and the leg of his nightstand caught on fire, he dismissed it as an odd accident. There was probably just some faulty wiring in the wall behind the nightstand, that was all. But the accidents kept happening, especially when his emotions were running high (which was a very common occurrence for him). Alex was both terrified and intrigued by these newfound powers. His mother had never confided in him the truth of his father's powers, so he had no idea that he'd inherited them from Jimmy. Instead, he kept his powers quiet and worked to harness them.

Unbeknownst to Judy and Alex, the government had been keeping tabs on Alex since Jimmy's incarceration. They knew there was a good chance Alex would inherit these powers, and they wanted to know if these powers happened to manifest. So, the summer before Alex was to start high school, his mother was approached by several government employees who offered Alex a place at Thomas Morecroft High School. Judy was forced to sit down and explain to Alex that he'd inherited his father's powers and those powers were a large contributing factor for why Jimmy had ended up in jail. Needless to say, Alex was even more disappointed in his father after that. He had these same incredible powers, and he'd managed to end up in jail for being a low-level thief and criminal. Alex saw the government's offer as an opportunity. He'd always yearned to prove himself, and a place to hone and develop his powers was perfect for that. And thus, Alex Conwell found himself enrolled at Thomas Morecroft High School alongside other kids like him. For now, he's out to master his powers and prove himself. And maybe cause a little trouble along the way.