Talon

Stock photo of alias "Talon"

First Appearance: "Marked Target" by Danielle Krieger

{- Currently being written. -}

Statistics

Character Summary

• Name: TBA (formerly Lawrence Alexander McKinley)
• Codename: "Talon" (a.k.a. "X-23")
• Age: 26 (physically 16)
• Height: 5'5"
• Weight: 126 lbs.
• Stats: 34C - 24 - 35
• Power: Healing Factor, Retractable Claws, Superhuman Agility, Superhuman Endurance
• Talents: Bachelor's Degree, Game Designer, Amateur MMA fighter (former)
• Accessories: Triumph Thunderbird Storm motorcycle
• Shoe: 7.5
• Dress: 4/5
• Education: High School Diploma: Falls City High School (Falls City, NE); Bachelor's of Science: Computer Science from University of Washington (Seattle, WA).
• Associated with: Posse, Green Arrow, Dr. Henry McCoy, Special Agent Helen Helligan
  • Known Nemeses: Dr. Zander Rice, so far. (Unaware that Dr. Martin Sutter is the REAL enemy.)

Skills / Abilities

• Strength: Class 3
• Agility: Class 5
• Endurance: Class 6
• Intelligence: 138 IQ
• Willpower: Class 4
• Skills:
  • Martial Combat Ability (4): Highly experienced practitioner of Shaolin Kung Fu.
  • Computer Programmer (4): Experienced with and can program in six different code languages.
  • Skilled Gamer (3): Has been playing video games since diapers. (Favorites include: Halo series, Call of Duty series, FIFA Soccer series, and anything BioWare has developed.)
  • Gymnast (2): Novice to Intermediate ability. Not winning any gold metals, but can pull off a few moves.
  • American English (4): speak/literate. French (3): speak/literate. Japanese (3): speak/literate.
    Chinese (1): very broken (cannot engage in conversation, only speaks choice words/phrases).

Appearance

[...]

Personality

[...]

Powers Explained

Regenerative Healing Factor: Talon's primary ability is an accelerated healing factor that enables her to regenerate damaged or destroyed tissue with far greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. She is capable of fully healing injuries resulting in massive tissue damage and blood loss such as multiple bullet wounds, slash wounds, and puncture wounds within a matter of minutes.

• Foreign Chemical Immunity: Talon's natural healing also affords her the virtual immunity to poisons and most drugs. She can be affected by some drugs, such as tranquilizers, if she is exposed to a massive dose. Imbibing alcohol carries a similar result: she can only be affected by massive doses (quantities).
• Disease Immunity: Due to her highly efficient immune system, Talon is immune to all Earthly diseases and infections.
• Superhuman Stamina: Talon's muscles produce considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the muscles of an ordinary human. She can exert herself at peak capacity for about 24 hours before fatigue begins to impair her.
• Longevity: Presumably, Talon's healing factor will also provide her with an extended lifespan by slowing the effects of the aging process.

Superhumanly Acute Senses: Talon possesses superhumanly acute senses that are comparable to those of certain animals. She is capable of seeing at much greater distances, and with perfect clarity, than an ordinary human. She retains this same level of clarity in near-total darkness. Her sense of hearing is enhanced in a similar manner, allowing her to both hear sounds that ordinary human's can't and to hear sounds that ordinary humans can, but at much greater distances. Talon is able to use her highly developed sense of smell to easily distinguish one person from another, considering such factors as 'male or female' and whether she is familiar with the person or not.

Superhuman Durability: (To be revealed.)

Superhuman Agility: Talon's agility, balance, bodily coordination, and reflexes are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of even the finest human athlete.

Retractable Claws: Talon's skeleton includes two retractable bone claws in each arm and one in each foot that she can extend and retract at will. These claws are housed beneath the skin and muscle. Unsheathing them causes her skin to tear and bleed, but the wounds are quickly dealt with by her healing factor. Talon can unsheathe any number of these claws at once, although she must keep her wrists and/or feet straight at the moment the claws emerge. The claws are naturally sharp and tougher than normal human bone, allowing Talon to cut through most types of flesh and natural materials. These have been coated in a metal alloy consisting of 70% Platinum, 20% Iridium, and 10% Osmium. The combination makes them incredibly strong and durable, more so than most other metal alloys.

History

[Should be noted that story begins February of "Year 1". Other timeline updates will be provided.]

Lawrence Alexander McKinley (or "Lex", as his friends called him) was born to working class parents after his mother was life-flighted to Lincoln, Nebraska, the night he came into the world. Since then, he hasn't known much else but hardship, especially in the financial department. Growing up in Falls City, Nebraska, was ordinary enough. From an early age, he knew something was a little different about himself that set him apart from other boys his age. Still, he did his best to fit in. Thankfully, there was always video games to fall back on if there was a lax in social interaction. He played Little League baseball for a couple of years, with little success. Pee Wee Football didn't turn out so hot, either. When he found soccer, however, he found he had quite the proficiency. As a Left-Wing Forward, he helped lead his high school team, the Falls City Bengals, to not just State, but Regional Championship. They didn't rank in the National tournament, but the achievement was enough to earn them quite a bit of notoriety in their hometown. Coupled with this victory, he had studied French as his foreign language and finally had a little luck with the ladies. He wasn't "Rico Suave", but he did well for himself. He graduated Salutatorian among his peers.

After winning a scholarship and creatively navigating financial aid, he was able to attend the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. His time there was well spent as he worked as hard as he could to earn his Bachelor's of Science degree in Computer Science, with a foreign language focus in Japanese. He engaged in a few on-campus clubs, but was never accepted into a fraternity, even after pledging four times. After the failure in his sophomore year, he started looking for somewhere to belong. He found that off campus in the International District, a small Kung Fu academy. In the beginning, his tutelage was harsh, but he soon found quite the home at Hao Lai Academy with Master Xiao Min. As an athelete, it was just the outlet he needed. In the next year, he wrote 63 lines of code that won him a contest meant to update the Havoc Physics Engine, used in countless popular video game titles. He was offered a job at Orion Software in Redmond, WA, that was waiting for him when he graduated Magna Kum Laude from UW.

For the first time in his life, Lex knew what financial independence felt like. Having learned six coding languages through his education, he was able to navigate many difficulties that came with developing video games. At that point, he knew no other joy than his excellent job. However, something in the back of his mind kept eating at him. Still studying at Hao Lai, he found a flyer for amateur Mixed Martial Arts tournaments, locally. Deep down, he felt like he had something to prove. As a bonus, it bolstered his income slightly, but that wasn't for half a year after he started. Before that, he was beaten every time he entered "the Octagon" ring. Through MMA, though, he met his good friend Mike "Brickhouse" Deutsch who taught him a few ropes that saved his fledgeling career. Sometime later, he met Julia Langley and fell head over heels.

All that changed one "faithful", and cold, February night. The night they kidnapped him. The night he manifested. The night Julia's screams echoed into the crisp darkness.

Having been sedated for extended periods, Lex is mostly unaware of the time he spent in captivity. Over a period of three weeks, his body underwent a complete transformation but he only caught the highlights. Slowly, his masculinity melted away to be replaced with femininity. His cell had been equipped with a two-way mirror, through which he watched his body change. In that time, he lost everything that identified him as male and gained everything that identified him as female.

Being locked away for a little more than six months, Lex discovered a few things about her new physiology. Using the new blade-claws, she mounted an escape attempt. Without the help of one Dr. Michelle Kimura, the attempt would have been unsuccessful. Dr. Kimura, at great personal cost, jeopardized her position in order to assist Lex escape. She was punished for her insubordination, but Lex was finally free. But, now the newly female would have to evade recapture and find shelter.

Moving back into Seattle, she sought out her friend Mike and his partner, Steven. After convincing them that she was, in fact, the "Lex" that they knew, they agreed to house her for as long as she needed. Also, her Kung Fu master agreed to help her retrain, given the change in capabilities of her new form. For the next two months, there wasn't much else in her life other than training and sleeping on the couch at her friends' apartment. Lex's co-worker, Rachel Maddingly, also volunteered to assist Lex as she learned more about her new body. It all seemed well, until a note was found attached to the door with a knife. Adding insult to injury, Lex's beloved Julia refused to accept that Lex was alive and the female before her was "him".

{...To Be Continued...}