Yuri Kawada, Cathy Lai, and Mike Hsiao
Bridge 2: Final Draft – Composite Character Creation
Character: Arden
March 15, 2018
[word count: 905]
Arden
An adroit, reserved, and introverted teenage boy, Arden. He was always a dull grey or beige; never a blazing red or a bright yellow. Growing up with superhero comics and Marvel movies, Arden aspired to be one. He was aware that superheroes were simply fictional characters – that is a fantasy from a person’s imagination. Knowing that his dream would never come true, Arden never took his dream into serious consideration.
It wasn’t until Arden’s sweet sixteenth birthday. His childhood was no longer just a light- hearted dream. Up until now, Arden lived his life like any other teenage boy. On the same day, a tragic, unfortunate story was reported on the news. An innocent lady was beaten up and robbed by a well-known group of gangsters, The Black Organization, on the street that Arden was familiar to. The Black Organization gang were never caught in the past cases that had happened in New York City. They have been hiding their identity from the police since the first crime they committed. Arden was skeptical on the street he normally took. So, his only option was to take the other route – that is, a route that was known to be the most menacing route at night. Walking back home from his birthday dinner with his parents, he discovers a peculiar black cape in the trash dump in between the dark, narrow alleyway. Arden felt skeptical but compelled by the cape. All the nostalgic memories as a kid flashed back into his mind. The memories when he would pretend to act as the superhero from the marvel movies recalled back to him. Even though he had given up his fanfiction dream, the rem was yet alive deep inside him. As he reminisced the stories of the protagonist fighting the antagonist, he unconsciously draped the cape over his shoulders. He imagined himself as the greatest superhero saving the world, helping those in need, and fighting against the villains. The second he wore his cape, Arden’s personality entirely changed. He was no longer the coward boy that sat alone in the corner and no longer the boy who was scared to speak up when someone physically abused him. The seemingly insignificant black cape did not only evoke him from the superhero stories, but also converted him into a compassionate, optimistic teenage boy.
The cape was now an item that he became fond of and part of him. He handled his cape with meticulous care. As time passed by, the cape was swept from his mind. It would be scrunched up under his big pile of laundry. However, he seldom wore it everywhere. The Halloween party was around the corner and Arden thought the mesh, translucent black cape would be the perfect ideal costume for the party. On the way to school for the dress-up event, he saw an over towering crowd outside the girl’s locker room. Out of curiosity, he slowly approached the crowd and witnessed a girl being picked on by the “popular girls”. Her hair was being pulled as well as her uniform was torn apart into pieces, and her personal belongings were scattered everywhere on the floor. “Who do you think you are to wear the same outfit as us?”, one of the popular girls shrieked.
The poor mistreated girl was the same girl Arden had fallen in love with since freshman year. Her name was Michelle. Michelle was always known as the shy, quiet girl in class. Thus, everyone knew that she was not capable to fight back. She was persistently bullied by the popular girls – papers with insulting words under her desk and locker. Michelle wanted to do something about this, but her thoughts did not reflect her actions. She was only able to accept this way of treatment. “My biggest fear is being picked on”, Arden thought to himself. Therefore, Arden was intimidated that he would become the next victim in the class. He did nothing, but to only observe Michelle being abused. Given the courage from his cape he wore to school, he can no longer stand Michelle being taunted by the group of girls. Arden despised the girls who mistreated Michelle. His love for Michelle was unconditional that caused the cape to change his personality from an introvert to an extrovert. He threatened the popular girls with his sharp eyes. The girls scurried out the room immediately.
Even though Arden was an introvert, he had always cautiously observed what had occurred around him. He paid great attention to the details of every person and object he saw, including the surveillance film of the unsolved robbery on his birthday. The tactics of both the gangs and bullies were so similar that Arden noticed in an instant. The Black Organization were Arden’s classmates. He directly reported the case to the police officers. After further investigations, the mysterious case was finally closed with the help of Arden.
Today, Arden believes that there are endless of injustice in the world he is living in. He believes that everyone deserves to be treated equally. He believes that nothing can be solved with only words, but actions can. The grown-up Arden is now a superhero who fights for justice with his keen observations and extroverted personality. Although he fights for justice, it became his undercover part-time job to save what he valued the most. However, without his cape, Arden is still shy, friendly and caring.
