"Where does it all start?" I ask with a small chuckle, throwing my feet up on the small table in front of us and leaning back against the "not-quite leather but real enough" fabric of the couch. "Well, I guess it starts where everything starts. At the beginning." Running a hand through the light blue hair which I will never admit to whether or not is real, I pick my feet up and sit up straighter, leaning forward with my elbows on my thighs and my teeth showing in a grin. "But if you want to know more about me, we really have to talk about someone other than me...as weird as that sounds. So sit back a bit and relax." Taking my own advice, I spun on the couch so that I could sit lengthwise, putting my head on the right armrest and letting my feet fall somewhere on the furthest cushion. Normally, this would either cause my wings great pain having to go through a contortionist's nightmare, or shred the couch. However, I was able to fold them over my shoulders which gave me a sort of macabre cloak look as the bony appendages wrapped around my collar. "This will be a long story."
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Mei Pechna, at age 21, was a biochemical researcher for Doctor Ryan Mikowski in the Founder's Falls campus of Paragon University. During her time researching with Dr. Mikowski, she became quite prominent in the field of genetics and hormonal studies. At age 25, she became a doctor herself and began teaching biochemistry and genetics classes at the university full time. When she reached the age of 28, there was a horrible accident in the laboratory. The Founder's Falls campus was bombed by a still unknown individual. The blast took place directly next to Breen Hall, the science building of the campus and took nearly half the building with it. Unfortunately, Professor Pechna was in Breen Hall when the blast went off. Luckly, she was on the other end of the building. The explosion failed to take her life, but did cause her old life to end. Professor Pechna was preforming research on an extinct and rare (even in those times) flying lizard known as the Horned Basilisk. At the time, she was preforming an experiment which analyzed the creature's genetic structure and attempted to isolate what she believed was the genetic code responsible for creating the animal's self-defense mechanisms. When the explosion hit, Mei Pechna's body was thrown about the room, and haphazardly thrown into a powerful Positronic Spectrophotometer. Combining the power and radiation from the spectrophotometer with the genetic material of the lizard about the lab, Professor Pechna was changed.
Not too much is known about the result of the blast. It seems as if she was able to walk from the rubble of the building herself to escape, but she wasn't seen from for a while after entering the hospital. According to the legal hospital records, she fell into a coma for four years.
When she "woke up" from her coma, she was apparently fine. There was no ill side effects from the explosion and contamination with the lizard DNA. However, what was odd was that she was pregnant and there was no father. Nine months later, Michael Sebastian Pechna was born. Michael grew up for the most of his early childhood just like all the other children. His mom still taught at the University and Michael was the average child of a single parent until the age of five, when something remarkable happened.
While in class, young five year old Michael was in charge of taking care of the class rabbit when his powers "awakened". He was taking the rabbit out of the cage so that he could clean it when a desk fell over in the room with a loud crash. The sound startled the rabbit, who bucked in Michael's hands and tried to jump out. Michael, frightened by the bang and desperately trying to hold onto the rabbit inadvertently caused a series of razor sharp bone spikes to shoot out from his skin. The result was that Michael was covered in bony spines and the poor rabbit caught the brunt of a dozen spikes radiating from Michael's hands. The added effect of feeling each one of the spikes rupture through his skin caused Michael a great deal of pain which only increased the child's fright. Needless to say, the poor kid was mortified and his mother took him away from school for a few years and homeschooled him. The story of Michael's "awakening" had been used for many "anti-mutant" demonstrations and arguments, and caused the poor child a good deal of mental stress. His mother, along with a university friend of hers who taught Ethics and Psychology, and was a pro-mutant himself, helped to nurture Michael in order to control his powers mentally and strengthen his mind. Further, his mother and her friend, hoping to teach Michael to use his powers responsibly, brought Michael a great deal of stories, movies, and documentaries of superheroes so that he might learn from their example. The result was that Michael became enamored with Superheroes and swore that one day he'd be the most recognized and important superhero in the world. At age 13, Michael grew bone-like wings out of his back which enabled him to fly. Throughout his homeschooling, his mother has brought Michael into the laboratory in order to experiment on his DNA and examine the extent of the mutation. Her research on him has brought about a great deal of knowledge on his mutation itself including the chemical makeup of the toxin secreted by his spines along with the pathology in which the toxin affects the body.
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"So that's my story in a nutshell." I say, looking up at the ceiling while stretching my legs. "Mom sent me to SJS because homeschooling really wasn't cutting it for me since I would end up skipping our sessions so I could train on whumping some baddies." I pause for a second and then chuckle. "Well since I got here, I've been busy here with academics and am making new friends quickly. Everyone's been really nice so far." Turning to face you, I stand up and let my wings unfurl behind me. Man that felt good. "If you want to know everything about me...that's a bigger story, but that's all there is to say really. I'm Michael Pechna. The Thorn Hawk. The best hero you will ever see in your lifetime." I smile widely before turning to leave. "Take care...and call if you ever need me."
((Thorn is an arrogant, cocky, and egotistical person on the outside, but deep down he's more of a romantic and an all around good guy. Quick to make friends, and vicious in their protection, Thorn will always take care of his buddies. His big problems however are his overweening pride, hubris, free use of his power, and irrationality. He will, without hesitation, throw himself into the fray, no matter how strong or outnumbered he is. Thorn also has the tendency to use his powers when they shouldn't be used, and has a hard time with the concept of "moderation." Add this to the fact that he leaps before he thinks and it becomes a dangerous combination.
))