Duke Thomas

* Lark
* Duke Thomas

## Background

### 1999 - 2015: Duke Thomas

Duke grew up living a relatively normal life. His mother was a social worker & his father worked in construction. He was involved in sports & he wasn't the brightest student but he was getting mostly B's in class. His family wasn't the richest but they were able to have regular family outings & even had family dinners once a month. A member of the family got to pick each time, though they usually went to their favorite's, Sea-Fine Seafood.

Duke thought he would be one of the few people to have a normal life in Gotham until his brother was killed during The Cataclysm. To this day, Duke is not sure how his brother was killed but found his body a block from their house.

Then in 2012, the Joker decided to finally put an end to Batman. But his plan wasn't to go after the Bat directly. Joker kidnapped Duke & his parents to turn them into his own Joker family. While Batman was able to rescue Duke, he couldn't save Duke's parents before they succumbed to Joker's laughing gas. Batman shielded Duke from watching his parents dying as they had gone mad.

After his parents' death, Duke was put into Gotham's foster system & began bouncing between houses. Duke had developed a habit of being a difficult teenager & started to work up a juvenile record for himself. After getting removed from his last foster home, Duke decided to run away instead of trying with a new family. He became an ally of various group for the following months before eventually joining the Street Demonz, a group of teen vigilantes & taking on the name Signal as he became the regular lookout.

### 2015 - 2016: Signal

   It was a lot of different personalities in the group though Duke would become close to two members; Troy & Isabella. He & Troy usually stuck together & were mostly paired off when going on missions. Troy soon grew tired of listening to their leader, BlackDomino & always doing what he said. BlackDomino eventually got word of this & Troy paid the ultimate price. This event, following the arrest of one of their members for the killing of a police officer, eventually led to Duke among other members leaving the Street Demonz.

To make up for his past deeds, Duke began doing his best to help people by fighting off muggers & other small time criminals he came across. It wasn't too long before he caught Batman's eye & upon recognizing the kid from the night of his parents' death, he offered the position as his new protege. Duke accepted the position as long as he didn't become another Robin.

## Romantic Relationships

* Isabella Ortiz: Girlfriend (2015 - 2016); On & Off Girlfriend (2017 - )

## Powers & Abilities

* **Metahuman Physiology:** Duke is a metahuman & is only beginning to understand his powers. His physiology appears to be unique in comparison to other metahumans, amplifying their abilities in his presence.
	+ ***Photokinetic Vision*:** Duke has photo-kinetic powers that allow him to take in light through his eyes and manipulate the way he processes light. Due to these photokinetic properties, his eyes possess a superior sensory array of visual capabilities, able to absorb light faster than normal humans and can detect changes or variations in light invisible to the naked eye.
	+ ***Precognition***: Duke can use his powers to not only see where light has been, but also see where light will be; glimpsing into the future. This gives Duke an edge in combat, being able to react faster to attacks that he normally wouldn't be able to and even catch projectiles in some cases.
	+ ***Retrocognition***: Duke can look back at the history of light in a room & see a few minutes of what happened before by looking at the "ghosts" of the light that hit the objects in the room.
* **Hand to Hand Combat:** Duke started fighting without any training & demonstrated considerable skill. He later received "training" as part of the Street Demonz then received further training from Batman.
* **Signal Armor:** After completing his training with Batman, Duke was given a costume. The suit is heavy plated with a reflective bat insignia that can blind or confuse an enemy as well as change color depending on lighting. His suit also has a built-in defensive electrical grid & a stealth mode that makes him invisible.
* **Motorcycle:** Originally a yellow version of Batman's batcycle, Duke has upgraded to a more streamlined motorcycle that can also cloak itself with Duke's suit; rendering it completely invisible.
* **Eskrima Stick:** Duke's primary weapon of choice is a pair of modified eskrima sticks that connect to function as nunchaku as well. The sticks come with spring-loaded hatchet blades that allow them to be used as a grappling hook.

### Ratings

* **Intelligence:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Strength:** 3 - Average / Basic
* **Speed:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Occult:** 1 - Nonexistent
* **Weapons:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Range:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Strategy:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Combat:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **TOTAL:** 93 - Threat Level 2 / Low Threat

## Trivia

* While it has not been proven yet, Duke may be immortal.
* Duke despises the Joker as he is the reasons for his parents' insanity & ultimate death.
* He thinks Cassandra Sandsmark is cute.
* Duke found out he had a meta-gene after his blood was tested upon joining the Bat Family. He decided to let his powers appear in time so no one knows if the powers he has exhibited is all he has or if there is more to come.
* He constantly feels that he'll never fit in with the Bat Family.
* Duke enjoys collectible card games, puzzles & film.
* He shows potential as a writer. While good at poetry, he'll never admit it.
* He eventually got his GED then later enrolled at Avalon University.

## Notes

* The Street Demonz take the place of the We Are Robin movement.
* His birthday is a nod to his first comic appearance *Batman*Vol 2 #21(August, 2013).