Vanguard

Dedrick Jones is known at Metropolis Univsersity as one of it's star basketball players. Despite his popularity, he doesn't hang out with the guys, or date around much.

Vanguard has been seen around Metropolis a few times, but not a lot is known about him. He's usually gone from the scene before the cops show up.

Background
Dedrick was born to Brandon and Alice Jackson. Brandon owned and operated a very small auto garage on the south side of Metropolis. Alice was a nurse at the local hospital. It wasn't very much pay and it was long hours, but the two always seemed to make ends meet. When they found out that Alice was pregnant they were estatic. They had always wanted a child and it would seem that their prayers had finally been answered. Neither of them had any other family and they couldn't wait for the new addition. The day after Dedrick was born all of the nursing staff came to see Alice's new baby boy. Brandon passed out cigars to his buddies at the shop and for the next four years the family was finally a happy one. Then, four years later on Christmas Eve, the Jacksons were going to a town nearby to spend Christmas with one of their friends. It was snowing heavily, and even though the city workers did their best to keep the roads clear, they seemed to ice over as soon as they were cleared off. As Brandon manuvered his car across the bridge, a large semi came from the opposite direction. As the two vehicles closed the distance to each other, the semi hopped lanes and caused a head-on collision with Brandon's car. The impact was devistating and the force of it sent the car over the side of the bridge to impact the water below. Miraculously, the impact was so hard, that it threw little Dedrick, still in his carseat, out of the rear window. Suffering only minor cuts and bruises, the four year old was found by the authorities and paramedics that arrived on the scene. Unfortunately, Dedrick had no other family left and the little boy was taken to a local orphanage where his life would undergo yet another change.

Life in the orphanage was difficult to say the least. Combined with the fact that Dedrick felt all alone and the fact that he was one of the youngest kids there, he spent most of his time in a corner of the playroom staring outside at the street and the surrounding buildings. A few of the other children tried to get him to play with them, but there were also some of the older kids that teased and picked on him. The staff did everything they could to try to get the boy to interact with them and the other kids but Dedrick barely spoke and seemed to keep to himself most of the time. And this is how it was for the next couple of years. However, every cloud has a silver lining and for Dedrick it was Vincent and Allison Jones. Vincent was owner and CEO of J-Tech Industries, a moderate sized company that specializes in computer software. Vincent and Allison were unable to have children of their own, and adoption seemed to be the only way they would ever be able to have kids. Initially, the couple wanted to adopt an infant, but when Allison saw Dedrick and the staff told her his story, her heart went out to the boy. She convinced her husband to adopt him, and after a few weeks of negotiaion with the orphanage, Dedrick went home with his new parents. Vincent wasn't super rich, but because he enjoyed a certain degree of success from his company, he was very wealthy and had no problems providing for Dedrick. He brought the boy home to his penthouse in uptown Metropolis. Dedrick's last name changed from Jackson to Jones and eventually Vincent and Allison became Mom and Dad. If the Jones' friends thought anything about a pair of caucasian people adopting an african american child, they never said anything about it...at least not in earshot of either one of them. Dedrick was enrolled in a prep school and life was pretty normal until high school.

Most of the time, high school means changes. For Dedrick, that was a vast understatement. He transferred from his prep school to public highschool. He found that he had an affinity for sports, especially basketball. He made first squad at Metropolis High as point guard and led his team to one state championship and the playoffs the next year. Because of his success at sports, he enjoyed a small degree of popularity. Some of his teammates thought he was a bit standoffish because he refused to participate in their jokes on the underclassmen. But it was around the time of the school prom when his life took another dramatic turn. On the walk home from the prom with his date, a couple of muggers stepped out of the darkness of an ally. They demanded that Dedrick give up his wallet and then they began to make comments about his date. Dedrick was ready to comply so that nobody got hurt, but when they began to rough up and paw on his date, he became angry at the situation. He wanted nothing more than to protect his date and make these scum pay for what they were doing. His hands began to itch all of a sudden as they began to glow with an eerie soft white light. Screaming at them to get off her, the thrusts his hands towards one of his assailants and a beam of white light came out of them, blasting the thug in the chest and sending him sprawling back into the alley ten feet away. The other thug looked at him then, and took off running. His date freaked out on him and she ran off as well. Not knowing what was happening to him, he returned home. His parents could tell something was bothering him, but he ignored them and went to bed. Sleep came late that night as the scene kept replaying over in his mind. He kept wondering what he was becoming, or what was wrong with him. The next morning he felt something cool and solid touch his cheek as he slept. Opening his eyes, he saw a solid white mass enter his field of vision. Turning his head left and right, he recognized that he was staring at the ceiling in his room..in close proximity. He immediately flipped over and saw that he was floating about four feet above his bed and that strange light from last night outlined his entire body this time. He panicked and cried out just as he fell back onto his bed and colapsed it. His father ran into the room to see a very upset Dedrick flailing in the covers of a broken bed. His father's entrance startled him even more causing him to flail out again, except this time he put his hand through the solid wall of his bedroom. No longer able to keep what was happening to him a secret, he told his father everything, beginning with what happend the previous night in the alley. His dad began to reassure him that whatever it was that was going on, they'd learn how to deal with it. From that day forth, Dedrick and Vincent began to test Dedrick's powers, and over the course of the next couple years, Dedrick learned how to control his new abilites. Outside of their family, nobody else knew, and Dedrick wanted to keep it that way.

Dedrick's experience in that alley that night changed in life in more ways than one. After graduation from high-school, Dedrick asked his father for a favor. He asked him to build him a suit so that he could use his powers openly without fear of being discovered. This didn't really come at too much of a surprise to Vincent, so using some of his resources, he had a suit fashoned for his son. Dedrick enrolled in Metropolis University on a basketball scholarship, and began studying business so that someday he'd take over the family business.

Dedrick's first outing as Vanguard came when there was a car chase in downtown Metropolis. He was walking down the sidewalk when an armored vehicle skidded around a corner. The police gave chase and there was gunfire between the two vehicles. Dedrick ducked down a side alley and changed into costume. Then, taking flight, he caught up to the car and positioned himself in front of it. Extending his arms, he gently slowed the car to a stop. The guys in the truck opened fire, but the bullets simply bounced off his chest. After ripping the door off the car, he subdued the two men and then turned them over to the cops. Afterwards, he didn't stick around to answer questions, he simply took off. Now, between school, basketball, and flying around in spandex, Dedrick has a pretty full life. Let's just hope that his efforts don't get him wiped out before his next birthday.

Personality
Focused: While a lot of other kids his age might be out partying, Dedrick doesn't really have time for personal relationships or just hanging out. School and crimefighting doesn't leave him a lot of time for that. But he has taught himself to play the guitar as a hobby.

Kind Hearted: Dedrick genually cares about those around him. He envolves himself in charity events, time permitting, and doesn't act like he comes from a wealthy family.

Law Abiding: Dedrick believes in the law. He sees the world in a shade of black and white. If you break the law, then you should be punished. However, he does understand that some circumstances require the law to be bent, and as Vanguard, he is often willing to bend those laws until the breaking point.

Second Chances: Even the bad guys deserve a second chance. Dedrick is still young, and a little naieve in the ways of the world. He still thinks that most crimminals can be good guys if given the proper chance.

Temperment: He is usually of even temperment, and has only ever gotten angry when he sees people getting picked on who can't fight back or seeing innocents suffer. (See Flaw: Temper)

Code of Justice: Even with the powers at his disposal, he always goes for a non-lethal takedown if he can. He believes in only using enough strength to overcome the current situation. Excessive force is something that he definitely frowns upon. One can bring someone to justice without them being half-dead in the process.

Under The Mask: The ability to fly, the super strength, theability to withstand bullets...they are only the things that Dedrick is capable of, but it does not define him as a person. He truly believes that the definition of a hero is someone who does not hold themselves in high regard, but someone who is a servant of those he protects. He knows that he is not perfect, but perfection is what he strives for. He worries about his image. He can sometimes have low self-esteem when working with those heroes that are larger than life, wondering what they might think of him..wondering what they would think of him should he make a mistake. He has feelings of being inadequate at times. He gets anxious around women. In a word, no matter what he is capable of physically, he is still only human. He belives that God granted him these powers for a reason. That what he is doing is his destiny. He has been given something that few humans have had before him. The ability to protect his family, his city, and his planet from anything that might seek to harm it. Superman and Supergirl may protect Earth because it is their adoptive home. But he was born and raised here. When it's all on the line, he knows what total failure could mean. And even at the cost of his own life, he would continue to fight even when the odds are overwhelming. Dedrick's strength of spirit would inspire him to keep going until he reaches his limit, and then he would go even beyond that. They say that the measure of a man is the sum of his means. If that is true, then this man will not be found lacking.