Jason Reynolds

**Jason Reynolds**, also known by his superhero alias **Sludge**, is a student at Thomsen High and a current member of the Young Bloods. Coming from a dysfunctional household Jason possesses a more pragmatic approach compared to other Young Bloods as well as having less then selfless reasons for heroics.

## Biography

### Pre-YB

Jason hasn't had it easy. Between the parents who couldn't decide if they wanted to stay together or split and the fact that he was not a particularly good student didn't help. He mostly kept to himself, watching TV or taking long walks around the city to avoid going home to his arguing parents. Making friends wasn't easy when all you can think and talk about is people arguing. Jason's first friend however, was quite an oddity. The apartment he lived in was no stranger to mold due to it's rather drab upkeep. However, one day as he decided to make his way home for the night, he swore he saw something move. Doing what any rational human would do when confronted with a moving blob of darkness and ran into his apartment as fast as he could and hoped his brain was playing tricks on him.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your perspective, it wasn't a hallucination. The black sludge had made it's way into his room, and attached itself to Jason in his sleep. He awoke just as it finished and almost had a panic attack when he caught a look at himself covered in a thick, black ooze. What was even more surprising was that it spoke to him. At first in jumbled words, but it became more coherent after a few minutes. Jason's fear quickly eroded somehow. He couldn't explain it, but either it had stopped him from being afraid, or it just felt... Normal? Not normal, natural. Like it was a different part of his body. The fact that it spoke to him was quite odd, but it didn't seem malevolent. Quite the opposite really. That and a little confused, more like it had just achieved consciousness and was exploring emotions and higher thought without really understanding it and using Jason's brain as a filter.

For awhile Jason kept his "friend" a secret and would often spend a lot of time out at night figuring out what they could do together. Which was actually quite a lot. Between crawling around the city, swinging between buildings and moving a car parked illegally in front of a fire hydrant, Jason was ecstatic that he had powers. One thing he noticed was that his "friend" would lure him to restaurants that had closed for the day and insisted that he grab all the slightly stale donuts and cheeseburgers he could and scarf them down. Jason obviously didn't want to dumpster dive for old food, but at the same time got the urge to. Instead, Jason promised him that he would get food for the both of them, that wasn't from a dumpster. The mold didn't really care, it just wanted something with substance. Over the next while, he began eating much more of whatever was in the fridge, even things that he normally wouldn't even think about eating, like pickles to keep his partner sated.

It worked until his parents started noticing that the fridge was emptying faster than usual, and of course took to blaming each other. Jason was frustrated and even the mold suggested that he help "fix" their relationship with violence. Jason wasn't interested since they barely even remembered that he existed and had every intention of leaving once he found a place to stay. One night, as he was swing around the town to blow off some steam, he found one of those old stores that had TVs in the window playing news reports. The new anchors talked about a young group of upstart heroes called the Young Bloods and the controversies surrounding them. Neither of them cared too much for that, but controversies meant attention and attention meant money. Money which could be exchanged for near infinite amount of day old hotdogs.

## Powers and abilities

   Jason receives his powers from his bond with a sentient mold that was empowered by Dragon Crystals.

* **Symbiotic Physiology**: Jason's body and the sentient mold that has fused with him. This greatly enhanced pretty much every physical attribute and his agility even more so. It also gives him the ability to shoot a sticky, stringy substance from his hands that allows him to swing and stick to walls with ease.

* **Equilibrium**: The symbiosis allows him to function at any angle as if he were standing normally.
* **Mild Shapeshifting**: The mold can change it's form to some degree and allows the creation of weapons, usually blades and claws.