Radikal

Superhero Name: Radikal

Real Name: Calvin Bailey

Aliases: Cal Bailey, C.B. (these are things he has called himself, not anything anyone else has ever used)

First Appearance: Gauntlet Comics Congenial Community Christmas Special # 2 (December 2007)

Base of Operations: His grandmother's attic, New Gauntlet City

Birthday: May 3, ****

Abilities/Powers: Chromatic Alternatrix Costume (Camouflage and Stealth) (he also uses this to change up his colors a lot), Gymnastics and Parkour Training (Acrobatics) (he's been doing this stuff at the park for years, in addition to some gymnastics after-school programs at his local community center)

Team Affiliations: The "Defense Team" (name still being workshopped)

Calvin Bailey always loved superheroes. He just never thought he'd get to really be one, even though he took lots and lots of gymnastics and self-defense classes "just in case." It wasn't until that fateful Christmas at the park near his grandmother's old brownstone when he finally got the chance. A battle between a couple of local heroes and a band of superscience criminals known as SCAB lead to a truck full of supertech being destroyed and a lot of gear being scattered across the park. A nearly ecstatic Calvin found a sparkling suit of color-shifting fabric lying in a tree, and he could not resist trying it on. To his delight is seemed to be sized just about right (his perhaps too supportive grandmother later made it actually fit with a few deft hems and tucks). He was initially scared when the SCABs came looking for the Chomatic Alternatrix Stealth Suit, but it did its job well, and they never saw Calvin hiding in the tree. They did hear the limb break as Calvin tried to follow them, just before he crashed into them, stunning them just long enough for the heroes to catch up. In the mop-up that followed, the heroes made a point to tell Calvin he needed to return the suit, but they lost sight of him. Not long afterward, the teen hero Radikal made his first appearance at the park, and his color-shifting outfit made him notable, if nothing else did.

Radikal and his fellow Defense Team members engaged with the supervillain Infinity in their first big battle, but Infinity escaped. One of their team, Chrysanthemum (Chrys), was seemingly destroyed in that battle, but they gained the attention of Guardian Devil as well as agents of CROSS. During the followup investigation, Radikal and Stray had a semi-awkward meeting with Ms. Fortune after kind of breaking into her apartment. They were warned about the Ozroch firm, and Radikal received a magical ankh amulet. After they left that meeting, Radikal went home. The next day, the Team had an unfortunate discussion about Stray's past and various misunderstandings about her identity, before being interrupted by one of Klarion's fellow legacy members, Chorister, who told them that Radikal's family was in danger. After a sort of comedy of errors that led Radikal to rush to his house, then to the St. Priscilla Basilica where his grandmother had been taken hostage with several members of her bridge club by Father Profane and Nephilim, two members of the Fiend Force. Profane and Nephilim were attempting to steal holy relics (the bones of a saint). Radikal rescued the hostages from Nephilim and kept the villains from getting the reliquary as the rest of the Team engaged Father Profane and his small (literally - they were all tiny) army of imps, eventually capturing the heretical priest and interrogating him before turning him over to AEON.

In this series of events, the Team discovered that Chrysanthemum was still alive and being held prisoner by the Fiend Force, and maybe being used in one of the rituals. The Team also got a not-very-happy message from Ozroch about their engagement with the Fiend Force. Things may be about to get (more) awkward...