Jonathan was born 16 years ago in L.A. to Paulina Brinks, an unwed mother. He only vaguely remembered his dad for most of his life, because he got sent to prison when Jonathan was five. His father sent letters from prison occasionally, but they were to his mom, and only occasionally mentioned him. Jonathan always had a temper, and would often throw fits as a small child. As he grew older he became aggressive and got into a lot of fights with other kids. He also became a major daredevil, never afraid to do anything or to pull any stunt, no matter how dangerous. He never seemed to feel any pain, and even when he got hurt he always seemed to be fine the next day. He was always in trouble at school, and was basically an angry loner.
His mother started dating other men when Jon was seven, exhibiting her usual bad taste. Most of her beau's were bikers, blue collar workers, and other rough sorts, many of whom were alcoholic, overbearing or abusive, or all three. Domestic violence was a common occurrence, and when Jon was 12 he beat the snot out of a particularly cruel jerk who took a swing at him at the dinner table one night. This was a turning point for Jonathan, as it was the first time he realized that he was uncommonly dexterous and strong compared to adult men. If he had been cocksure before, he was unstoppable now. He had no fear of reprisal, no hesitation to leap into a fray; he would confront anyone and challenge anything. He went from one fight to the next both in and out of school, and even beat up one of his teachers who tried to throw him out of class for being overly disruptive. This got him expelled, and was the final straw for his mother.
Paulina had had enough. She finally threw him out of the house, at age 16. She said he was just like his father and was going to end up in and out of prison if he didn't stop being such a hellion and start respecting the rules of society and other people. She told him that his father was out of prison now and starting up a business for himself and that he could go live with him for a while. She packed him off to the Greyhound station despite his protests to reform, and he was met on the other end by a nearly seven foot tall black haired and muscle-bound man in a black tank top, displaying absurdly powerful arms. "Are you my father?" Jonathan asked in awe, which caused the towering brute to chuckle and reply with a deep Chicago accent, "Hah! Naw; da boss sent me around to pick you up; he's closing a contract over da phone with Unger. He wanted to be here himself, but, eh, you knows how it is; the client is quibbling over da details so he's gotta deal with it. I'm yer Uncle Mike, but you can call me Jackhammer."
"Oh. What kind of contract? Do you work for my father? Jackhammer? Is my fathers company into construction or something?", Jonathan asked with typical teenaged aplomb.
"Uh, yeah, "or something". Yer father will tell you all about it. Lets go grab da car and get this show on the road; whaddaya say to that kid? Oh, is you hungry or something? We could stop for some sausages or something on da way back to da office."
Jonathan met his father later that day for the first time since he was 5 years old and was surprised to find that he looked like an older, bigger, and more battered version of himself. There was no question that it really was his father; they looked almost exactly the same with only the difference of age to differentiate them. Jonathan knew from his mother that his father's name was Chad Kelley, but he was a little thrown off by all of his fathers friends/employees calling him "Machine" to his face and either "da Boss" or "da Machine" when he wasn't around. Jonathan was also surprised by the other guys that worked at his dad's office. Aside from towering "Uncle Mike", there was the deadly serious Mr. Unger, who looked like he had some kind of cybernetics grafted on to him, and of course "Bronto" with his stinking elephant like hide and menacing appearance.
It was fairly obvious to Jonathan that his father didn't know what to do with him. He was extremely busy getting his company established and had no parenting skills at all. Chad did make some concessions to Jonathan's pre sense; he got a bigger condo with an extra bedroom and bought some furniture for Jonathan to furnish it with, and got him enrolled in a new high school, but mostly he expected Jonathan to go to school and stay out of the way. Every morning Uncle Mike would come by and drop him off at school. In the afternoons he was expected to make his own way back via the bus.
Left to his own devices, Jonathan soon fell back into his old habits and was quickly involved in fights and trouble yet again. The led to Chad being called in by the school to take a hand. He confronted Jonathan about his behavior one night at home, and the teenaged Jonathan quickly lost his temper and began railing at his father, and finally got so worked up he took a swing at him. surprisingly his father easily blocked the attack; this infuriated Jonathan and he threw a flurry of blows, trying all of his dirty infighting tricks and throwing every thing he had into it. His father easily blocked or avoided it all. Finally, Chad just put his hands to his side and started taking the hits, easily absorbing the impacts. Eventually Jonathan's rage broke and he came out of his fugue tired and frustrated, and also feeling a little bit guilty.
"Well, it seems like something bred true in you anyway. You're pretty strong, son. And quick. Let me ask you something; do you feel pain? I mean, when something hits you, do you feel it? Me, I cant feel anything. I have no sense of touch at all. I cant feel hot or cold, if something is wet or not, or rough or smooth. I hate that. Did you know I used to be a carpenter? I learned it from my father...I loved to work with wood; to feel the grain of it beneath my fingers, the soft powder of wood dust, the smoothness of a well finished piece. that's what I miss the most, you know. When you build something with your own two hands, well, its a feeling like no other to see it standing there, finished.....";
Chad shook his head, shaking off the maudlin thoughts with it; "Look son; I know you are angry at me, and at the world. I screwed up with you, no question. I should have married your mother and settled down, stayed out of the business and got back into carpentry or some other line of work. At the time I couldn't though. I was involved in a war between VIPER on the one hand and the Yakuza on the other. I was in a hard spot. I met your mother in a bar one night, and ended up taking her home. We had a lot of fun together the next few days, but she was a good listener too and I found myself calling on her more and more in the next few weeks until eventually we moved into an apartment together. You were born later that year. I had arranged things so I could be there for the day the docs said you'd put in an appearance, but you were premature a few days and I was still away on a job. When I heard the news, I pushed through the job and rushed back to L.A., driving straight thru from Vegas. Heh; I about blew the engine out of the rental, tearing through the desert. Anyway, I got to the hospital 10 minutes after you were born and I remember looking at you through the glass and thinking, "I've got to straighten my act up, and be a good father to this kid."
And I tried, Jon, I really did. I stopped working for the Yakuza and tried to get work as a carpenter or anything else for that matter. But I was already an ex-con and was lucky to get crap jobs where I couldn't make in half a year what I could make from one good score in the business, and spent most of the time unemployed. You were probably too young to remember, but by the time you were three we had spent through all the money I had saved from before and we were broke, hard. So, I took on a job for some extra cash to make ends meet. And then another. Within a year, I was back in the business again, working as a freelancer.
"Times were good for a couple of years before I got caught on a job by a cape with mental powers, and got sent back to Stronghold again for 15 years. Your mother says she held out for me for a couple of years, but the money I left with her had run out and I couldn't get her any more; finally I wrote and told her to find a new guy to make ends meet, so she could take care of you. I've come to understand that didn't work out so well, but there wasn't anything I could do about it in the pen, and your mother never told me regardless. I got time off for good behavior, and I got a degree while I was in the pen, and I'm trying to do something now smarter than busting heads for small change. I'm trying to get established and make a new life for myself here.
"Your mother didn't want to see me when I got out, but I told her I wanted to meet you at least; three months later she sends you to live with me. That was a little unexpected but now that I've seen you I'm glad she did. I know I haven't been there for you, son, but I want to make it up to you. I want to provide you with a good future, so you don't have to live the life that I have. I want you to keep your nose clean, and stay on the up and up, so you can make your way in society as something other than a criminal. You've got two more years before you are a man; but in the meantime stop fighting at school, put your nose to the books, and get ready for college. You are not going to grow up to be a criminal thug-for-hire like me. You've obviously inherited some superhuman abilities from me, fine and well, though I wish you hadn't. But don't use them like I've used them. Either just accept them and move on to have an otherwise normal life as a businessman or a craftsman, or moviestar, or whatever; or if you must use them, use them on the side of law as a cape.
"Trust me, there's a much better percentage in using them to stop crime than to commit crime these days. You can get sponsored, or do endorsements, or hook up with a wealthy cape with an establishment and mooch off of them for your three hots and a cot. Capes look out for each other too. Me, I cant trust any of the palooka's I work with; they'd all sell me down the river for the right price, or else are so dumb that they could be used against me. Take my current associates for example; Unger's doing his own thing -- he's got an agenda and this is just a means to an end for him unless I miss my guess. I can trust Bronto only so long as I pay him; the day the money runs out is the day he splits. I think Jackhammer is reasonably loyal to me, but he's also dumb as a post and easily manipulated. But capes, those guys watch each other's backs, you understand?
"So listen to me. I don't want to hear about you getting in trouble at school anymore, and I don't want you getting involved in any small-time-crime going on in the neighborhood. You're meant for better things than that, right? Leave em alone. I know what its like to be the new guy on the block; you had to face down some punks, I get that...but you've established yourself as a bad ass so now just ride the rep and only defend it when you have to. You'll get further that way. Now listen up, I'm putting aside money for you to go to college; even if I get sent to Stronghold again those funds will still be there; its all in your name. So, nose to the books, no criminal activities, and start picking out colleges you want to go to; got it? And if you need to fight to get the anger out, you can come down to the dojo with me and we'll train together. You've got your own style already, but your old man might still be able to show you a trick or two. Deal?"
Jonathan, his anger gone, agreed. Feeling accepted for the first time, he was able to reign in his temper considerably. Though still aggressive and headstrong, and liable to loose himself to a red fugue when in a fight, at least he didn't go around looking to start those fights as he did previously. He did better in school, though more through hard work than intellect, and is considering several institutions of higher learning. He trains with his father three nights a week most weeks, and has started to make a few friends at school. At his fathers advice he has avoided school sports as they would draw too much attention to his superhuman strength and dexterity, but Jonathan has started to develop an interest in Motor Shop. He's decided he wants a motorcycle, but he's holding off until he can afford a really good one. He works at a fast food restaurant on the weekends for some pocket money, and his father gives him a small allowance for doing odd jobs around the house, so he can make occasional small purchases and still save for his bike.
This year coming up will be his junior year of high school, and his grades have improved enough that his father was able to get him accepted into the prestigious Ravenswood Academy, which his father thinks will be an excellent entry point into higher society. However, his father is not aware of Ravenswood's alternate purpose; he enrolled his son as a normal student and paid the tuition directly. It will be interesting to see what happens when Jonathan attends the school if he encounters other superhuman teens; his powers are already comparable to most adult superheroes, and are likely far beyond most of the other young students of the school for one, and his blue-collar past from the other side of the tracks will definitely make it a little difficult for him to blend in with the more sheltered teenagers he's likely to encounter. The faculty is aware of who Chad "The Machine" Kelly really is, and will keep an eye on his son to see if he has powers similar to his father's, taking appropriate steps to inculcate him into the inner program for superhuman teens if it becomes apparent that he does. |
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