Space Cadet

Real Name: Byron Emil Durand
Occupation: Body guard for hire, adventurer and Guardian of the Cube.
Base of Operations: Gateway city, the One Eyed Snake Nightclub and Darque Manor.
Place of Birth: New York, NY
Known Relatives: Louisa Durand (mother) and Emil Durand (father)
Group Affiliation: The Guardians of the Cube
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Homosexual
Height: 6′2″
Weight: 203 lbs.
Eyes: brown, though they appear blue, because of the special contact lenses he wears.
Hair: naturally black, but he prefers to bleach it platinum blonde.
Penis: 11 inches, cut
First Appearance: Naked Justice #2 (2004)
Current Appearances: Naked Justice #2, Rapture #1, Rapture #2, Rapture #3, Striptease #1

History:
Born to Louisa Durrand, a private school teacher, and Emil Durrand, a well-respected scientist and engineer, Byron Durand was a very quiet child, who preferred to keep to himself and read comics rather than interact with the other children at his school. Considered the school geek, he was bullied from a young age by the older kids, and because of his slight build, they found it easy to push him around. But despite the hardships he endured, Byron remained a very optimistic and happy child, taking refuge from the adversity in the pages of his favorite comic books.

His mother and father used to try and encourage him to be more outgoing, but Byron had no interest in being friends with the kids who treated him so poorly. He preferred to nourish his imagination instead.

One fateful afternoon when he was 15 years old, he and his mother were out walking in New York, when Byron caught a glimpse of “the Goddess”. To this day, his parents still don’t know to who he was referring to, but Byron insists that that moment was the defining instant of his life. He saw his heroine fly gracefully across the bright, blue sky, her long silver hair and cloak flowing in the cool breeze, and in that instant, his life would be changed forever.

He had been bullied and ridiculed for too long, and he would stand for it no longer. Byron began to exercise and take care of his body. He joined the school track team and began to lift weights, until he had become a full-fledged athlete. He took lessons in the martial arts, and became well versed in many forms of combat.

Seeing “the Goddess” made him realize that he could be more than the boy that everybody pushed around, and that in fact, he could become someone that people looked up to and respected. He decided then and there that he would fulfill his dream of becoming a super hero.

At 19 Byron decided that he was now ready for adventure. By then he was an extremely handsome young man, toned and muscled to perfection. His body was as powerful a fighting machine as it was beautiful. Still, Byron needed a “gimmick”… something that set him apart and gave him his own identity as a super hero. That is when he decided to turn to his father.

Emil Durand’s research centered around the creation of new equipment for NASA’s astronauts. Byron let his father in on his dream of becoming one of the world’s heroes, despite his fear that his father might not understand. To his surprise, Emil embraced the idea, stating that it was so wonderful to see Byron come out of his shell and fulfill his great potential. Emil gave his son several prototypes, which included a jet pack and helmet, as well as a plethora of ray guns and blaster pistols.

Needing only a name to complete his new identity, Byron adopted the alias “Space Cadet”. From that point on, he would try and earn himself a reputation as one of the world’s greatest heroes.

Space Cadet learned the hard way that being a hero was no easy task. On his first “adventure”, he was sorely rendered unconscious by the villainous Prick and Mamma Ries as they robbed one of New York’s finest jewelry stores. To teach him a lesson for trying to thwart their plans, Momma Ries and The Prick stripped Space Cadet nude, and tied him up in one of the city’s less favorable alleys, where he was milked and molested by thugs and low-lives for 2 days and nights. To his relief, the police eventually came to his rescue. Space Cadet had been humiliated, but he had not been defeated.

Still he had lost the equipment his father had given him, and getting it replaced was going to be costly. So he decided to move to Gateway City where he would earn money for his heroics. He became a body-guard for hire.

His most high-profile client was to be the infamous Tobey Tubesteak. While protecting Tobey from the evil Jack the Stripper, Space Cadet encountered Naked Justice and Ghostboy. The three heroes helped one another out and defeated Jack the Stripper, sending him straight to the Fraserview Mental Health Hospital.

Since then, Space Cadet has befriended Naked Justice and Ghostboy, and has offered his help to them on many occasions. Through his work as a body guard, he managed to earn enough money to pay for his replacement equipment.

Meanwhile, Space Cadet has received an invitation to join the Guardians of the Cube from Jeanne Darque. For him, this is the perfect way to prove himself as one of Gateway City’s great defenders. His father continues to watch over his son, and create more gadgets and gizmos for him, fully believing in his Byron’s vast potential to be a great hero.

Powers and Paraphernalia:
Space Cadet possesses no superhuman powers or skills.

All of Space Cadet’s gadgetry and equipment comes from his father. Emil Durand is a brilliant scientist who has constructed extremely advanced weaponry for his son.

Space Cadet carries laser pistols, a force field emitter and his rocket pack permits him to fly at speeds exceeding 100 MPH. When completely zipped up, his skin tight, form fitting costume, constructed of unstable molecules, serves to insulate him for extreme environmental conditions, thus allowing him to travel in space and even underwater. His costume regulates all body functions and shields him from extreme pressure, heat or cold.

His helmet permits him to breathe in such conditions as well, and can recycle his oxygen indefinitely.

The one draw-back to his costume is that it can be easily torn, something his father continues to try and change.

As an athlete, Space Cadet is well versed in numerous forms of hand to hand combat and martial arts. He is a formidable opponent who possess higher than average strength and endurance for a human male of his age, height, weight and build.

Space Cadet wears special contact lenses which allow him to see with infrared, and x-ray vision, again, compliments of his father. They also increase his visual acuity and filter out unwanted radiation on all wavelength spectrums. These contacts have a blue hue to them, thus making it appear that Byron has blue eyes. Coupled with his bleach-blond hair, they give him a rather striking look.