Cape & Cowl Application
[PLAYER INFO]
NAME: Georgia
AGE: 23
JOURNAL: felinephoenix
IM: AIM > effpeenix
E-MAIL: felinephoenix at gmail.com
RETURNING: Nada.
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Reilly Tyne / Darkdevil
FANDOM: Marvel MC2 Universe (Earth 982)
CHRONOLOGY: Spectacular Spider-Girl Vol. 1 - #8
CLASS: Hero, even if most of the goody two shoes back home would disagree.
SUPERHERO NAME: Darkdevil
ALTER EGO: Reilly Tyne, Legal Intern/College Student
BACKGROUND:
Reilly Tyne was born in a prison hospital, the son of a victim-turned-murder. Oh, and a clone.
Actually, he was the son of a brave princess locked away in a tower. Or maybe a heartbroken secret agent, waiting for the return of her handsome young husband. Who was also a secret agent. Or sometimes a superhero. The story went through subtle changes with each new foster family. Until the state of New York managed to contact his mother's relatives: A kindly aunt and a gentle uncle. The stories stopped after that, because Reilly's uncle taught him a very valuable lesson about lying. With his fists.
It wasn't long after that his uncle's gambling habit caught up with him. He was found beaten in the alleyway, probably by an irate bookie. (Or perhaps another irate uncle.) There was an inspection, and in the end, the kid was put back in the system. Well... he would have been, if he didn't decide to run away. With his weird new powers, it was almost too easy. (No one expects a kid to crawl up his walls and out the window!) Unfortunately, he didn't have a lot of time to enjoy them. He was dying.
The clone degeneration was sudden and painful. If not for the help of a stranger, he would died alone on the streets. The strange, calling himself Kaine, claimed to be uncle. Explained that Reilly had inherited this condition from his father, a man named Ben Reilly, better known as the Scarlet Spider (or just Spider-Man). Unfortunately, Kaine could not cure him. All he could do was put him in a resuscitation tube and wait.
And wait he did, until the fateful night Kaine tried to reanimate a corpse. It was the body of Daredevil, an enemy of Kaine's current employer, WIlson Fisk. A man who had died saving Kaine, on the same night he was poised to topple the Kingpin's empire once and for all. At first, Kaine tried using science to bring back the fallen hero. It failed. So, in desperation, he turned to the demon Zarathos. Offered his own life in exchange for Daredevil's.
But Zarathos didn't want an, crazed clone for host. He wanted a younger, healthier form... like the boy in the tube. So he took over the child's body, transforming into a demon like himself. And perhaps that would have been the end of the story. After all, Kaine couldn't battle him... but there was someone who could. Daredevil, whose spirit waged a fight for the boy's life and soul. The battle raged on until finally Daredevil emerged as the victor, leaving Reilly imbued with his spirit, forever changed. Which left him with one option: enroll in law school and take up crimefighting. Naturally. Luckily for him, Reilly happened to have a natural talent for both, soon securing an internship at Nelson and Associates and establishing a reputation as the mysterious, violent vigilante Darkdevil.
Speaking of legacy heroes, it wasn't long after that Reilly began hearing rumors of a Spider-Girl. Realizing who had to be behind the mask, he made it his mission to convince his cousin to stop fighting crime before she got herself (or someone else) killed. Or at least whip her into better shape using tough love. (In other words, lots of criticism and snark.) But, like always, his family had to complicate things. Kaine had come back to New York, planning to kill the Kingpin (and maybe kidnap May if possible). This led to a touching reunion between uncle and nephew, involving fists and flames, and ending with Darkdevil having to save Spider-Girl before she ended up as street pizza. But the fun didn't end there! Just days later, he found himself having to team up with Spider-Man while May rushed off to prevent Kaine from committing murder. It went about as well as a Parker Family Gathering could -- May saved the day and Peter complained and complained about how Reilly was disgracing Matt's legacy... while completely failing to discern the cryptic hints his nephew kept dropping about his heritage.
Oh, and the police dragged Kaine off to jail. For a time. Then Fisk began making moves from inside his cell.
Darkdevil soon discovered the Kingpin was using the services of the Scriers, a league of assassins, to take out one of the New York mayoral candidates. It didn't take Reilly long to realize he'd need help, which meant pulling some legal strings to free an enemy of his enemies -- Kaine. The two came to a very uneasy truce. And things were going well, except for one eensy little problem. Zarathos, now masquerading as Scrier Prime, reappeared. Planning to kill Darkdevil for being a bad boy and not letting himself get possessed (no really, that's pretty much exactly what he says). Of course. But there was a happy ending, by which I mean Reilly tricked Zarathos into blowing up his host body. Yay?
Things were calm for quite a while after that, at least on the crime fighting front. Reilly's workload doubled, however, as he began working with Foggy Nelson on amnesty deal for the convicted ex-con Raptor, a former foe of May's. This led to Spider-Girl meeting Reilly out of the costume for the first time. She didn't notice anything unusual about the nervous young lawyer. Naturally. Then everybody got shot at by a teleporting hitman known as Mr. Nobody, hired by Raptor's abusive ex-boyfriend to take out Tyne. This would turn out to be the start of a beautiful, uh, antagonism.
At the same time, a "new" Spider-Man (Gerald "Gerry" Drew) began swinging in the skies. After asking around about him, Reilly eventually teamed up with the Extreme Spidey Fanboy kid. Mostly because Nu!Spidey wouldn't stop bugging him god. They did end up bonding a bit, though, no matter how much Reilly denies it (which is a lot). Alas, their hijinks were cut short by the fact that Gerry was kind of a terminally ill walking radioactive hazard and Peter had to convince him to stop playing hero until he could be cured. But on the bright side, hanging out with so many Spiders seemed to have made Reilly rethink his opinion of May, as he finally praised her for the first time, (accidentally) convincing her to continue being Spider-Girl.
Then, one night at Rykers, there was an attempt on The Kingpin's life. Unlike all of the many, many others attempts, this one (by a disgruntled ex-employee aka Mr. Nobody), would succeed. Darkdevil, who had arrived to stop the hit, was kidnapped by the killer. And tortured. Until he was saved by Spider-Girl. This marked a turning point in their relationship, as Reilly now willingly worked with May, doing favors for Spider-Girl whenever asked. He still didn't trust her enough to share his secret, however.
Which made going to Normie and Brenda's wedding super awkward... since he had to go as Reilly Tyne and meet the Parker Family! And was promptly deemed a Tobey Maguire lookalike by Peter. Yeahhhh. Mary Jane, however, was not fooled and proceed to stalk this mysterious kid what looked like he could be her son ( no I am not joking). So that was awesome. Then Normie's crazy "fiancée" Fury brought the worst gift ever -- the Venom symbiote.
Let's just say the ensuing fight didn't go well. Or, in other words, Darkdevil got himself impaled by Normie!Venom while trying to save May. Like father like son. Once she got over the fact that flames, not blood, were flowing out of Reilly's chest May webbed up his wounds and took him to Avengers Mansion for treatment.
The Avengers called on Doc Magus, this world's Sorceror Supreme, for help. Quickly realising he didn't have the experience to deal with this "patient", Magus called on Doctor Strange for an assist. Which was when Zarathos reappeared, declaring he would have Darkdevil's body for his own. This called for a little intervention on the astral plane, where the Stranges worked together with Reilly and Matt to banish Zarathos.
But Reilly wasn't done dealing with mystical threats. Well, sort of. While Darkdevil didn't deal with directly, Loki did sort of brainwash half of the heroes of the world into going evil and trying to kill each other. Including, notably, one Peter Parker! Who picked a fight with Darkdevil that got so intense the Avengers had to break it up. While calling the kid a disgrace to Matt's legacy, out of control, and a monster! It was the best day ever. The only thing that could have made it better was The Hulk punching him in the face and using him to knock out other heroes afterwards -- oh wait that actually happened.
Soooo. After having two near-death experiences in a row (hey, being used as a pummelling tool by The Hulk is close enough), Darkdevil decided to lay low for a while, only resurfacing when Kaine or May needed his help. Until one day Darkdevil got a call from, of all people, Peter Parker. Asking him to arrange a meeting with Kaine. Suspicious, Reilly dialed his cousin. The two arrived just in time to hear Parker giving an angry, incoherent rant about clones, lies and switched babies. Oh and to stop Peter from almost beating Kaine to death.
What no one knew at the time was that Parker wasn't quite himself. What they did learn was that Norman Osborn (yes, that one) might have cloned Spider-Girl. And that both May and the clone was missing... and Parker had been kidnapped by Fury. So, teaming up with Kaine, Normie, Raptor and Phil Urich, Darkdevil set out to find the Spider-Girls and rescue Peter. Instead, he found Norman Osborn (again, yes, that one) inhabiting Peter's body. A beatdown ensued, although Reilly did manage to recover long enough to give Normie an assist by stabbing Norman-Peter in the shoulder. In time, Peter (and May and the clone) managed to overcome Norman and banish the Green Goblin forever!
And Reilly never had to worry about crazy family drama ever ag-- who am I kidding? Not even a month later, a woman calling herself "Gwen Reilly" appeared on the scene, claiming to be Ben Reilly's daughter. Long story short she, uh, wasn't. And then she was murdered! Reilly and Kaine decided to investigate, of course, and found out that "Gwen" was really just one of many patsies in Fury's attempt to take revenge on a) her former organization, a bunch of Goblin fans and b) The Parkers. Oh, and one of her other patsies was the May clone, now calling herself April. May, being May, rushed off to rescue her "sister". Reilly, being Reilly, rushed off to nag at her the whole way (no i am not kidding).
When they got there, Darkdevil found himself facing April (who was under Fury's control... or possibly just wanted to kill May) in her symbiote form, which was totally awesome for him. Despite that she was kind of busy kicking his ass, Darkdevil decided to try and reach out to the kid, by trying to appeal to her need for family (while being very careful not to mention he was part of her fam, of course). To everyone's surprise, it worked! The two then briefly worked together to take out Fury.
PERSONALITY:
Reilly Tyne is, in many ways, a typical teenage boy. Sarcastic, brooding, bad tempered, constantly butting heads with father figures. Plus trying oh so hard to be "tough" and "adult" in a doomed attempt to mask his insecurities, confusion and frustration about his life. Of course.
Except in all the ways he's not normal. Like being a chronic liar, for example, even if it's only by omission. It could take months - maybe even longer - before you realise that despite all the pleasant conversations you've had, you know nothing about this guy. He never talks about himself if he can help it. No mention of his troubles, his hobbies, his family. Not even his origins and motivations. Don't take it personally, though. After spending so much of his life having to hide something, it's almost instinct.
All this repression and angst has to find an outlet, eventually, and not-so-fortunately for the mooks he encounters that tends to happen on the street. In other words, Darkdevil is a violent guy. Even for a vigilante. He hasn't killed anyone yet, and that's the one line he'll never cross, but he's left more than his fair share of rooms filled with broken, beaten men behind. (And he wonders why people are hesitant to team up with him!) Yet... while he does believe force is the best way to deal with criminals before someone gets hurt, and he'll defend that belief... he does wonder what it says about him that he's willing to go this far. He once told Zarathos they were nothing alike. And yet, how different is what he does, really? What about Peter? Was he right, is he disgracing Daredevil's legacy with his actions? Or how about Kaine? How long until he crosses that line and becomes a killer just like him? And what would his father say about all of this...
Speaking of family, uh. Let's just say that Reilly has trust issues. Huge ones. Thanks, judgemental uncles, crazy clones and abusive drunks! So, shockingly, Reilly doesn't have a lot of friends (or even just people he can count on). But he's the kind of guy who will lay down his life for his friends and loved ones. Go figure. Also, um, snark at and possibly stalk them because that is how he shows he cares. (Sigh.)
It could also be speculated that he has identity issues. When Doc Magus offered to exorcise him, and give him a chance at a normal life, Reilly violently objected. Argued that being Darkdevil wasn't "just a job" to him -- it was who he was. The fact that we very rarely see him outside of costume seems to bear this out. As for why he'd see things that way? I suspect Reilly considers being Darkdevil, no matter how weird it is, to be an improvement on the life he had before. Better to be a lawyer by day and a hero by night than be a victimised street kid all the time.
So to wrap up: Reilly is rude, violent, and struggling with familial, trust and identity issues. Plus he broods a lot. When he's not being a complete dork, of course. Hey, he can't help it. It's in the genes.
POWER:
LET'S SEE IF I CAN BOIL DOWN A TON OF RIDICULOUS YET CANON POWERS! PROBABLY NOT
Demon Form (plus Hellfire Generation and Manipulation): Darkdevil has the ability to switch between human and demon forms. Like all vengeance demons, in this form he can generate and manipulate Hellfire. Most of the time, he just coats his trademark billyclub(s) in this stuff, but he can also create "flaming constructs" such as fireballs and "copies" of himself. According to the Venom symbiote, the flames are cool to the touch, but they're otherwise indistinguishable from regular flame. Oh and I guess I should probably mention that, in demon form, he bleeds this stuff.
Spider-Sense: A sixth sense that warns of Reilly of danger. It manifests as a tingling sensation at the base of his skull. The intensity of the tingling can vary depending on how dangerous an opponent is. At times, it can even be somewhat painful and distracting.
Wallcrawling: Also inherited from dear old Dad is the ability to climb walls. Reilly doesn't use this skill often because it would totally spill his secret, but it does have it uses. (Why, oh why, do mooks never look up.) What Reilly did NOT inherit was a webshooter or the ability to make webbing. While he probably could learn to use the equipment, at this point, he can't. Besides, teleporting is so much faster.
In canon, Reilly also has the ability to teleport, another side effect of his transformation. However, I'm taking that away from him while he's in The City.
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
[ Voice ]
[ After at least half an hour of fumbling, Darkdevil has managed to turn on his cameraphone. He hasn't, however, come even close to learning how to hold it properly so please excuse the constant shakycam. Anyway, he's perched upon a rooftop, giving everyone a clear view of his costume and the very serious brooding expression on his very not human face. ]
All right. It's nothing personal, but I'm no big fan of The Avengers, and I doubt they're fans of mine. Sure, they'll accept Saberclaw and Warp, but violently clear out one supervillian bar... but I digress. I'm just trying to figure out why, given their previously held opinion of me, Iron Man would be choosing me to be one of his "heroes".
Doesn't the man have his pick of young, naive aspiring heroes and heroines to choose from if recruitment numbers are low? Because I have work to do. I don't mind helping out while I'm here - as long as I can stay a solo act - but I have responsibilities back home.
Although. While I'm here, I guess I should ask... I don't suppose any of you have seen a Spider-Girl? She wears red, blue and webs. Has a bad habit of making corny speeches and an even worse one of pulling stupid stunts?
[ The camera dips down and focusing on a crime brewing nearby. ] I - I should go. But, if anyone... I. I need to talk to her. Thank you.
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:
The silence was deafening.
Reilly's arms shot up, palms to sticking the wall just seconds before the shock turned his knees to jelly. It felt a little like teleporting for the first time. Stomach churning and definitely disorienting. His eyes kept opening and closing, biding their time until he could process all the similarities and subtle differences between home and here. Wherever that was. Now, if only his head would stop aching, perhaps he could figure out what was going on here. Maybe find Spider-Girl if she was swinging around--
Unless she's already dea-
No. He couldn't think like that. He took a deep, focusing breath. Slowly opened his eyes. Which... wasn't nearly as helpful as he'd hoped it would be. That was when it hit him, of course. Typical Parker Luck, getting the whole truth the moment he'd thought he was starting to understand. How could he have missed it?
They were gone. His tormentor. His protector.
What did that mean? It couldn't-- one dimension hop and it was all over? Was that all he'd needed to do to be free of the spectre of Zarathos. Free of--
"Matt," he whispered, trying to ignore the sudden blurriness in his vision. He wasn't free. He was alone.
He'd been alone before. That wasn't new. Neither were the sights, smells and sounds of a troubled city. Hell, that was more like home than any "home" Reilly had ever known. For once, it was almost a comfort. There was nothing quite like hearing the screams of someone else - an old woman, maybe being mugged? - to keep him letting loose a few of his own.
After all, he still had a job to do. A responsibility.
So he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Until he reappeared, face-to-face with the perpetrator. And as he felt that familiar flame course through his body, and human features shift into demonic, he smiled. Savored the terror on the poor guy's face and raised his burning billyclub.
Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad day after all.
FINAL NOTES ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER:
A few things...
NAME: Georgia
AGE: 23
JOURNAL: felinephoenix
IM: AIM > effpeenix
E-MAIL: felinephoenix at gmail.com
RETURNING: Nada.
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Reilly Tyne / Darkdevil
FANDOM: Marvel MC2 Universe (Earth 982)
CHRONOLOGY: Spectacular Spider-Girl Vol. 1 - #8
CLASS: Hero, even if most of the goody two shoes back home would disagree.
SUPERHERO NAME: Darkdevil
ALTER EGO: Reilly Tyne, Legal Intern/College Student
BACKGROUND:
Reilly Tyne was born in a prison hospital, the son of a victim-turned-murder. Oh, and a clone.
Actually, he was the son of a brave princess locked away in a tower. Or maybe a heartbroken secret agent, waiting for the return of her handsome young husband. Who was also a secret agent. Or sometimes a superhero. The story went through subtle changes with each new foster family. Until the state of New York managed to contact his mother's relatives: A kindly aunt and a gentle uncle. The stories stopped after that, because Reilly's uncle taught him a very valuable lesson about lying. With his fists.
It wasn't long after that his uncle's gambling habit caught up with him. He was found beaten in the alleyway, probably by an irate bookie. (Or perhaps another irate uncle.) There was an inspection, and in the end, the kid was put back in the system. Well... he would have been, if he didn't decide to run away. With his weird new powers, it was almost too easy. (No one expects a kid to crawl up his walls and out the window!) Unfortunately, he didn't have a lot of time to enjoy them. He was dying.
The clone degeneration was sudden and painful. If not for the help of a stranger, he would died alone on the streets. The strange, calling himself Kaine, claimed to be uncle. Explained that Reilly had inherited this condition from his father, a man named Ben Reilly, better known as the Scarlet Spider (or just Spider-Man). Unfortunately, Kaine could not cure him. All he could do was put him in a resuscitation tube and wait.
And wait he did, until the fateful night Kaine tried to reanimate a corpse. It was the body of Daredevil, an enemy of Kaine's current employer, WIlson Fisk. A man who had died saving Kaine, on the same night he was poised to topple the Kingpin's empire once and for all. At first, Kaine tried using science to bring back the fallen hero. It failed. So, in desperation, he turned to the demon Zarathos. Offered his own life in exchange for Daredevil's.
But Zarathos didn't want an, crazed clone for host. He wanted a younger, healthier form... like the boy in the tube. So he took over the child's body, transforming into a demon like himself. And perhaps that would have been the end of the story. After all, Kaine couldn't battle him... but there was someone who could. Daredevil, whose spirit waged a fight for the boy's life and soul. The battle raged on until finally Daredevil emerged as the victor, leaving Reilly imbued with his spirit, forever changed. Which left him with one option: enroll in law school and take up crimefighting. Naturally. Luckily for him, Reilly happened to have a natural talent for both, soon securing an internship at Nelson and Associates and establishing a reputation as the mysterious, violent vigilante Darkdevil.
Speaking of legacy heroes, it wasn't long after that Reilly began hearing rumors of a Spider-Girl. Realizing who had to be behind the mask, he made it his mission to convince his cousin to stop fighting crime before she got herself (or someone else) killed. Or at least whip her into better shape using tough love. (In other words, lots of criticism and snark.) But, like always, his family had to complicate things. Kaine had come back to New York, planning to kill the Kingpin (and maybe kidnap May if possible). This led to a touching reunion between uncle and nephew, involving fists and flames, and ending with Darkdevil having to save Spider-Girl before she ended up as street pizza. But the fun didn't end there! Just days later, he found himself having to team up with Spider-Man while May rushed off to prevent Kaine from committing murder. It went about as well as a Parker Family Gathering could -- May saved the day and Peter complained and complained about how Reilly was disgracing Matt's legacy... while completely failing to discern the cryptic hints his nephew kept dropping about his heritage.
Oh, and the police dragged Kaine off to jail. For a time. Then Fisk began making moves from inside his cell.
Darkdevil soon discovered the Kingpin was using the services of the Scriers, a league of assassins, to take out one of the New York mayoral candidates. It didn't take Reilly long to realize he'd need help, which meant pulling some legal strings to free an enemy of his enemies -- Kaine. The two came to a very uneasy truce. And things were going well, except for one eensy little problem. Zarathos, now masquerading as Scrier Prime, reappeared. Planning to kill Darkdevil for being a bad boy and not letting himself get possessed (no really, that's pretty much exactly what he says). Of course. But there was a happy ending, by which I mean Reilly tricked Zarathos into blowing up his host body. Yay?
Things were calm for quite a while after that, at least on the crime fighting front. Reilly's workload doubled, however, as he began working with Foggy Nelson on amnesty deal for the convicted ex-con Raptor, a former foe of May's. This led to Spider-Girl meeting Reilly out of the costume for the first time. She didn't notice anything unusual about the nervous young lawyer. Naturally. Then everybody got shot at by a teleporting hitman known as Mr. Nobody, hired by Raptor's abusive ex-boyfriend to take out Tyne. This would turn out to be the start of a beautiful, uh, antagonism.
At the same time, a "new" Spider-Man (Gerald "Gerry" Drew) began swinging in the skies. After asking around about him, Reilly eventually teamed up with the Extreme Spidey Fanboy kid. Mostly because Nu!Spidey wouldn't stop bugging him god. They did end up bonding a bit, though, no matter how much Reilly denies it (which is a lot). Alas, their hijinks were cut short by the fact that Gerry was kind of a terminally ill walking radioactive hazard and Peter had to convince him to stop playing hero until he could be cured. But on the bright side, hanging out with so many Spiders seemed to have made Reilly rethink his opinion of May, as he finally praised her for the first time, (accidentally) convincing her to continue being Spider-Girl.
Then, one night at Rykers, there was an attempt on The Kingpin's life. Unlike all of the many, many others attempts, this one (by a disgruntled ex-employee aka Mr. Nobody), would succeed. Darkdevil, who had arrived to stop the hit, was kidnapped by the killer. And tortured. Until he was saved by Spider-Girl. This marked a turning point in their relationship, as Reilly now willingly worked with May, doing favors for Spider-Girl whenever asked. He still didn't trust her enough to share his secret, however.
Which made going to Normie and Brenda's wedding super awkward... since he had to go as Reilly Tyne and meet the Parker Family! And was promptly deemed a Tobey Maguire lookalike by Peter. Yeahhhh. Mary Jane, however, was not fooled and proceed to stalk this mysterious kid what looked like he could be her son ( no I am not joking). So that was awesome. Then Normie's crazy "fiancée" Fury brought the worst gift ever -- the Venom symbiote.
Let's just say the ensuing fight didn't go well. Or, in other words, Darkdevil got himself impaled by Normie!Venom while trying to save May. Like father like son. Once she got over the fact that flames, not blood, were flowing out of Reilly's chest May webbed up his wounds and took him to Avengers Mansion for treatment.
The Avengers called on Doc Magus, this world's Sorceror Supreme, for help. Quickly realising he didn't have the experience to deal with this "patient", Magus called on Doctor Strange for an assist. Which was when Zarathos reappeared, declaring he would have Darkdevil's body for his own. This called for a little intervention on the astral plane, where the Stranges worked together with Reilly and Matt to banish Zarathos.
But Reilly wasn't done dealing with mystical threats. Well, sort of. While Darkdevil didn't deal with directly, Loki did sort of brainwash half of the heroes of the world into going evil and trying to kill each other. Including, notably, one Peter Parker! Who picked a fight with Darkdevil that got so intense the Avengers had to break it up. While calling the kid a disgrace to Matt's legacy, out of control, and a monster! It was the best day ever. The only thing that could have made it better was The Hulk punching him in the face and using him to knock out other heroes afterwards -- oh wait that actually happened.
Soooo. After having two near-death experiences in a row (hey, being used as a pummelling tool by The Hulk is close enough), Darkdevil decided to lay low for a while, only resurfacing when Kaine or May needed his help. Until one day Darkdevil got a call from, of all people, Peter Parker. Asking him to arrange a meeting with Kaine. Suspicious, Reilly dialed his cousin. The two arrived just in time to hear Parker giving an angry, incoherent rant about clones, lies and switched babies. Oh and to stop Peter from almost beating Kaine to death.
What no one knew at the time was that Parker wasn't quite himself. What they did learn was that Norman Osborn (yes, that one) might have cloned Spider-Girl. And that both May and the clone was missing... and Parker had been kidnapped by Fury. So, teaming up with Kaine, Normie, Raptor and Phil Urich, Darkdevil set out to find the Spider-Girls and rescue Peter. Instead, he found Norman Osborn (again, yes, that one) inhabiting Peter's body. A beatdown ensued, although Reilly did manage to recover long enough to give Normie an assist by stabbing Norman-Peter in the shoulder. In time, Peter (and May and the clone) managed to overcome Norman and banish the Green Goblin forever!
And Reilly never had to worry about crazy family drama ever ag-- who am I kidding? Not even a month later, a woman calling herself "Gwen Reilly" appeared on the scene, claiming to be Ben Reilly's daughter. Long story short she, uh, wasn't. And then she was murdered! Reilly and Kaine decided to investigate, of course, and found out that "Gwen" was really just one of many patsies in Fury's attempt to take revenge on a) her former organization, a bunch of Goblin fans and b) The Parkers. Oh, and one of her other patsies was the May clone, now calling herself April. May, being May, rushed off to rescue her "sister". Reilly, being Reilly, rushed off to nag at her the whole way (no i am not kidding).
When they got there, Darkdevil found himself facing April (who was under Fury's control... or possibly just wanted to kill May) in her symbiote form, which was totally awesome for him. Despite that she was kind of busy kicking his ass, Darkdevil decided to try and reach out to the kid, by trying to appeal to her need for family (while being very careful not to mention he was part of her fam, of course). To everyone's surprise, it worked! The two then briefly worked together to take out Fury.
PERSONALITY:
Reilly Tyne is, in many ways, a typical teenage boy. Sarcastic, brooding, bad tempered, constantly butting heads with father figures. Plus trying oh so hard to be "tough" and "adult" in a doomed attempt to mask his insecurities, confusion and frustration about his life. Of course.
Except in all the ways he's not normal. Like being a chronic liar, for example, even if it's only by omission. It could take months - maybe even longer - before you realise that despite all the pleasant conversations you've had, you know nothing about this guy. He never talks about himself if he can help it. No mention of his troubles, his hobbies, his family. Not even his origins and motivations. Don't take it personally, though. After spending so much of his life having to hide something, it's almost instinct.
All this repression and angst has to find an outlet, eventually, and not-so-fortunately for the mooks he encounters that tends to happen on the street. In other words, Darkdevil is a violent guy. Even for a vigilante. He hasn't killed anyone yet, and that's the one line he'll never cross, but he's left more than his fair share of rooms filled with broken, beaten men behind. (And he wonders why people are hesitant to team up with him!) Yet... while he does believe force is the best way to deal with criminals before someone gets hurt, and he'll defend that belief... he does wonder what it says about him that he's willing to go this far. He once told Zarathos they were nothing alike. And yet, how different is what he does, really? What about Peter? Was he right, is he disgracing Daredevil's legacy with his actions? Or how about Kaine? How long until he crosses that line and becomes a killer just like him? And what would his father say about all of this...
Speaking of family, uh. Let's just say that Reilly has trust issues. Huge ones. Thanks, judgemental uncles, crazy clones and abusive drunks! So, shockingly, Reilly doesn't have a lot of friends (or even just people he can count on). But he's the kind of guy who will lay down his life for his friends and loved ones. Go figure. Also, um, snark at and possibly stalk them because that is how he shows he cares. (Sigh.)
It could also be speculated that he has identity issues. When Doc Magus offered to exorcise him, and give him a chance at a normal life, Reilly violently objected. Argued that being Darkdevil wasn't "just a job" to him -- it was who he was. The fact that we very rarely see him outside of costume seems to bear this out. As for why he'd see things that way? I suspect Reilly considers being Darkdevil, no matter how weird it is, to be an improvement on the life he had before. Better to be a lawyer by day and a hero by night than be a victimised street kid all the time.
So to wrap up: Reilly is rude, violent, and struggling with familial, trust and identity issues. Plus he broods a lot. When he's not being a complete dork, of course. Hey, he can't help it. It's in the genes.
POWER:
LET'S SEE IF I CAN BOIL DOWN A TON OF RIDICULOUS YET CANON POWERS! PROBABLY NOT
Demon Form (plus Hellfire Generation and Manipulation): Darkdevil has the ability to switch between human and demon forms. Like all vengeance demons, in this form he can generate and manipulate Hellfire. Most of the time, he just coats his trademark billyclub(s) in this stuff, but he can also create "flaming constructs" such as fireballs and "copies" of himself. According to the Venom symbiote, the flames are cool to the touch, but they're otherwise indistinguishable from regular flame. Oh and I guess I should probably mention that, in demon form, he bleeds this stuff.
Spider-Sense: A sixth sense that warns of Reilly of danger. It manifests as a tingling sensation at the base of his skull. The intensity of the tingling can vary depending on how dangerous an opponent is. At times, it can even be somewhat painful and distracting.
Wallcrawling: Also inherited from dear old Dad is the ability to climb walls. Reilly doesn't use this skill often because it would totally spill his secret, but it does have it uses. (Why, oh why, do mooks never look up.) What Reilly did NOT inherit was a webshooter or the ability to make webbing. While he probably could learn to use the equipment, at this point, he can't. Besides, teleporting is so much faster.
In canon, Reilly also has the ability to teleport, another side effect of his transformation. However, I'm taking that away from him while he's in The City.
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
[ Voice ]
[ After at least half an hour of fumbling, Darkdevil has managed to turn on his cameraphone. He hasn't, however, come even close to learning how to hold it properly so please excuse the constant shakycam. Anyway, he's perched upon a rooftop, giving everyone a clear view of his costume and the very serious brooding expression on his very not human face. ]
All right. It's nothing personal, but I'm no big fan of The Avengers, and I doubt they're fans of mine. Sure, they'll accept Saberclaw and Warp, but violently clear out one supervillian bar... but I digress. I'm just trying to figure out why, given their previously held opinion of me, Iron Man would be choosing me to be one of his "heroes".
Doesn't the man have his pick of young, naive aspiring heroes and heroines to choose from if recruitment numbers are low? Because I have work to do. I don't mind helping out while I'm here - as long as I can stay a solo act - but I have responsibilities back home.
Although. While I'm here, I guess I should ask... I don't suppose any of you have seen a Spider-Girl? She wears red, blue and webs. Has a bad habit of making corny speeches and an even worse one of pulling stupid stunts?
[ The camera dips down and focusing on a crime brewing nearby. ] I - I should go. But, if anyone... I. I need to talk to her. Thank you.
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:
The silence was deafening.
Reilly's arms shot up, palms to sticking the wall just seconds before the shock turned his knees to jelly. It felt a little like teleporting for the first time. Stomach churning and definitely disorienting. His eyes kept opening and closing, biding their time until he could process all the similarities and subtle differences between home and here. Wherever that was. Now, if only his head would stop aching, perhaps he could figure out what was going on here. Maybe find Spider-Girl if she was swinging around--
Unless she's already dea-
No. He couldn't think like that. He took a deep, focusing breath. Slowly opened his eyes. Which... wasn't nearly as helpful as he'd hoped it would be. That was when it hit him, of course. Typical Parker Luck, getting the whole truth the moment he'd thought he was starting to understand. How could he have missed it?
They were gone. His tormentor. His protector.
What did that mean? It couldn't-- one dimension hop and it was all over? Was that all he'd needed to do to be free of the spectre of Zarathos. Free of--
"Matt," he whispered, trying to ignore the sudden blurriness in his vision. He wasn't free. He was alone.
He'd been alone before. That wasn't new. Neither were the sights, smells and sounds of a troubled city. Hell, that was more like home than any "home" Reilly had ever known. For once, it was almost a comfort. There was nothing quite like hearing the screams of someone else - an old woman, maybe being mugged? - to keep him letting loose a few of his own.
After all, he still had a job to do. A responsibility.
So he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Until he reappeared, face-to-face with the perpetrator. And as he felt that familiar flame course through his body, and human features shift into demonic, he smiled. Savored the terror on the poor guy's face and raised his burning billyclub.
Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad day after all.
FINAL NOTES ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER:
A few things...
- Due to crazy demon mojo, Reilly appears to be in his early twenties in human form. He's really about 15 or so.
- I'm working under the assumption that Matt Murdock's Spirit WOULDN'T follow Reilly to The City. (Partly because SG canon has never explained how the whole "imbued with his soul" thing works anyway and while I've got plenty of ideas, none of them are canon. >_>)
- His two forms appear and even sound drastically different (check the speech bubbles!). So IN GENERAL people wouldn't be able to figure out that Darkdevil = Reilly Tyne.
- HOWEVER, outside of costume, his resemblance to Peter Parker/Ben Reilly is beyond obvious! They look similar, they sound similar and they're even the same height. It's kind of creepy. The same should go for any Spideyclones that may appear, too, like Kaine or Ultimate Jessica Drew.