Devon Averett

Origin: Early Life
Devon Averett was the son of doctor Alison Averett of West Mercy Hospital in Gotham City, and detective Henry Averett of Gotham City Police Department. Devon was born into a wealthy family and due to the busy lives they lead, it didn't leave much room for them to tend to his needs. His father was formerly a forensic anthropologist but eventually quit his job to become a detective. They struggled with money for a while due to the sudden change. Devon was left in the hands of a maidservant to care for him while they were away during their busy hours. It had taken a while but eventually, Alison had brought their family out of their struggles when she received her masters and doctoral degree. As a kid Devon received many books, and he loved brain teasers, as well as puzzles. He was a very enthusiastic and intellectual child and really involved in sports and activities. Eventually, his maid had him take up ballet lessons, and martial arts. She insisted it was best he started at a young age so that he would have many opportunities set for him in the future. He and his father often talked about the anatomical science of anthropology, and even his job as a detective. They had a very close relationship. His father even shared with him of the times he worked with Batman. It was true, he often worked with Batman and Commissioner Gordon. Devon became fascinated with Batman and admired him.

Murder Breeds A Killer
During an investigation with the Commissioner, Henry was injured badly, being stabbed in the stomach by a masked attacker, but his attacker had gotten away. Commissioner Gordon rushed him to West Mercy Hospital and when they arrived, Alison quickly took control of the situation to tend to her husband's injuries. The attacker was sent to kill the entire Gotham City Police Department. The assassin had gotten into the hospital from roof access, and found his way into Henry's room, where he was being operated on. He murdered the doctors in the room, including Alison, and he lastly killed Henry. During a code red in the hospital the Commissioner contacted Batman, who arrived moments later, where the attacker went after Gordon. He fought him off until Batman had arrived. Gordon witnessed the fight between Batman and the assassin. After Batman successfully apprehended the attacker, he left the scene.

Devon was struck with grief over his parent's murder for years. His immediate family members were unable to take care of him, and instead for the rest of his youth, he had been raised by his maidservant who had also adopted him. Eventually, he was enrolled in Gotham Academy, but he had continued his gymnastics, ballet, and martial arts classes. Devon had been hellbent on getting revenge on his parents murderer. While he was attending Gotham Academy, he met another student, Alexander Skye, who had also taken gymnastic lessons with him and the two quickly gained a friendship. One evening the pair were coming home from the movie theater when they witnessed a robbery at a local corner store in the city. Devon decided to take matters into his own hands, and Alexander followed along as he was unwilling to witness anything unfortunate happen to Devon. He and Alexander entered the store, avoiding being noticed by the two masked robbers. Following Devon's lead, they used blunt weapons to beat the two criminals and unarm them once they were close enough. Hearing the sound of sirens nearing, the two boys fled the store and exited into an alley nearby. The rush of adrenaline was exciting for the two. Devon convinced Alexander to make what they were doing permanent, and Alexander initially thought it was a crazy idea and the possibility that Devon wasn't serious, but he agreed to it.

The two of them started to operate as vigilantes in Gotham City. They located in an abandoned warehouse, where there was local high activity resulting in night watch there each evening. They had technology that constantly monitors all broadcast information networks. His high speed scans extract the information from these sources. Devon claimed his identity as Whisper, while Alexander identified as Bandit and they spent months following their vigilante careers. Devon thought his time being Whisper would lead him directly to exact revenge on his parent's murderer, and Alexander promised to help him do so. A few months in, the two were known by their vigilante names around Gotham and the rest of the world. Whisper and Bandit followed a drug marketing that had been transporting these drugs to the Gotham Heights, for months and getting away with it due to the lower crime rate there. During their stealth attempt to take them down, Bandit endangered their mission with his careless actions, which forced him out into the open. Bandit was taken, hostage and restrained. After finding him, Whisper struck down the thugs and released Bandit. They continued moving and infiltrated the building where they were fired at with heavy artillery. Bandit was severely wounded at his upper chest, Whisper insisted on halting their mission, but Bandit rejected his offer. Whisper had used the little time they had left to take out the thugs, and finish the mission, successfully taking down the drug operation. He had taken Bandit to the hospital, but by the time they arrived, he had lost so much blood, it had already been too late. It seemed everything in his life had been worsening. To prevent from compromising his identity, he retired as Whisper.

The Beginning Of Cardinal
While he was a child, he spent time paying close attention to Batman. He always had a strong obsession with Batman, even as he had been a teenager. Devon thought the best way to get Batman's attention was to pose as Robin. He spent time designing a costume, though it had the signature look of Robin but with a different color scheme. Some time had passed, and his attempts to gain Batman's attention failed. It had been a while, not too long after Alexander's funeral and he had forgotten all about it. Devon began another mission with his new identity as Robin. He used his skills to break into Gotham State Penitentiary. It was risky, but he made it through without being spotted. He faked a jailbreak, and released all of the prisoners, just to get his hands on his parents murderer who he had followed, after he was released from his cell. He and the murderer were on rooftop of the penitentiary, where Devon repeatedly and violently attacked him, nearly killing him. If that hadn't been enough, he had been stopped from enacting his final strike by Batman himself, who talked him down. Together the two of them helped restrain the prisoners who had been released, because of Devon. Batman harshly insulted him, and informed him of his actions being careless and selfish. Some time after this encounter, Batman offered to train him as his fourth Robin, though instead he adopted another alias and called himself Cardinal and Batman guided him under his wing. After working closely together, Bruce eventually revealed his identity to Devon.

Soon after Alexander's passing, his handmaiden had passed as well. With the recent loss of people in his life that were close to him, he had gone into a deep state of sadness and grief. Devon had only been fourteen and dealing with issues in his life that he never thought he would have to face while being so young. After their deaths, Bruce adopted Devon and he lived in the Wayne Manor, along with Bruce, Tim Drake and their butler Alfred Pennyworth. Eventually, he met Black Canary, who along with Batman decided he and her protégé Banshee began working together. This helped him develop the skillset of being able to cooperate well with others. He and Banshee spent a couple of months learning from each other and fighting crime. Some time had passed and eventually, Banshee moved on to join her team and the two stopped fighting together, though they would see each other more than often afterward. Bruce had him return to school and although he was behind, he was very intellectual, so Bruce had made him study that much harder to get his grades up to achievement by putting his role as Cardinal on the line. Once he turned fifteen, Tim decided to allow him to join the Teen Titans and it was good for him, for a while but it didn't stick. He remained at Batman's side for his use, though Devon was unable to keep up with all of his after school activities, and he had eventually dropped his martial arts class to continue them at the Wayne Manor for a better experience. He remained on top of his ballet classes, which helped improve his coordination, balance, and agility skills, and he continued practices in gymnastics as well.

Cardinal created several ways of transportation, through his plane that he called Grosbeak, which like the Batplane had a fully-functioning crime lab, and magnesium flares encased inside of the cone. He also had a motorcycle, that he modified and called Piranga, and an automobile he called Habia, all of which were named after birds. It took him almost another year to complete the build of the Piranga. Eventually, he and Bruce forged a close bond and though Bruce wouldn't admit it, he has a soft spot for him just as Devon does for Bruce. After he turned eighteen, he spent his last year of high school focusing on the things he missed out on in his childhood, though it was mostly Bruce's idea. He received his first internship at The Armory which was his father's place of work when he was younger. Devon was working alongside several forensic anthropologists. He spent months focusing on this and traveled to Canada, and helped uncover the remains of a murder that was covered up. They found a headless corpse in the woods, and the victim's body not that far from the location. After returning to the lab he was dismissed, while the doctors had gathered as many clues and information as they could. He later returned to the lab that night to look over what they discovered and only then did he become Cardinal, to find the murderer and bring him to justice. A few weeks after his graduation he accepted a large insurance settlement from his parent's death since he had been of age to receive it. Afterward at the Wayne Manor, he received a party that was planned by, Bruce, Barbara Gordon, and several other close friends. He applied for Gotham University, and while he awaited his acceptance he spent the rest of his months fighting crimes, working with Batman and even often the Justice League though under Batman's leadership. A year had passed, and Cardinal had started his first day in College. To manage his college life and personal life he had gotten a local job, as a yoga instructor and a life coach.

Abilities

 * Athletic Strength
 * Athletic Speed
 * Peak Human Condition: When Devon was younger he isolated himself from other children and did not have any friendships outside of her rigorous training rituals that expanded the older he got, which included intense training, ballet, yoga, acrobatic training, track running, as well as flexibility through, olympic training, and gymnastics. He also has a specialized diet. His body is human perfection both physically and mentally. His strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, endurance, balance and coordination are in peak human perfection.
 * Athletic Durability
 * Athletic Stamina


 * Gymnastics: Growing up, he took gymnastics and still does.
 * Acrobatics
 * Reflexes


 * Ballet: Devon spent several years of practice in ballet during his childhood, and well into his teenage years.
 * Agility
 * Coordination
 * Balance


 * Archery: He became partially skilled in archery, after first being introduced to a bow and arrow by Gwen Lance.


 * Aviation: Cardinal first learned to fly when using the Batmobile, and soon after through the creation of Grosbeak.


 * Stealth


 * Tactical Analysis


 * Throwing


 * Graceful Dancer: Devon is a profound ballet dancer.


 * Seduction and Manipulation: Cardinal doesn't tend to rely on manipulation tactics unless he finds it necessary.


 * Disguise


 * Computer Hacking
 * Computer Operation


 * Driving: He first learned how to drive his automobile, Habia.


 * Firearms


 * Gadgetry


 * Genius Level Intellect


 * Indomitable Will: Cardinal's will strength makes him able to function while tolerating massive amounts of physical pain.


 * Intimidation


 * Investigation: Cardinal has few skills when it comes to forensic investigations and solving crime mysteries, such as when he helped discover and find human remains during his internship. He can use even the smallest clues and slightest details to solve extremely difficult cases and accurately deduce the identity of unknown criminal masterminds.


 * Lock Picking: This was a skill he learned, working alongside Batman.


 * Martial Arts: He took martial classes while he was younger, long before he began his life of crime-fighting and is a very skilled fighter. His survival has proven that, thanks to his fighting skills.
 * Capoeira
 * Karate
 * Aikido
 * Kung Fu
 * Judo
 * Savate
 * Stick Fighting
 * Sword Fighting
 * Jujitsu
 * Dragon Style Kung Fu


 * Multilingualism: Cardinal is fluent in Latin, Chinese, French, and Hindi.

Equipment
Utility Belt: In Cardinal's belt pouches it contains an infrared flashlight, smoke capsules, first aid kit, grappling gun, mini-explosives, several kunai's, and a small mobile device, (Connected to the Batcomputer).

Carbon Fiber Cape: Cardinal has a lightweight cape that opens up when it feels an electrical current allowing him to glide.

Highly Durable Suit: Cardinal's suit can withstand bullet's, cuts, small explosives, and high falls.