Schwinn

Family: Alonzo (brother) , Niviera (half sister - unknown)

Personality: Schwinn may have a few screws loose up top, if you know what I mean. He is a wild child, embedded with the idea that he is unbreakable. You can knock him a good one - leave him in a puddle of blood and vomit and Schwinn still won’t learn his lesson. It is all just a game to him - a test - something that he’ll walk away from one way or another and live to see another day. In other words, you can break his bones and bloody his nose, but you can’t crush his spirit.

That is probably why the life of a hench works so well for him. No one actually cares what he does, just as long as he ultimately answers to the “big guy.” There is no one breathing down his back or telling him to “watch it” - he can just be who he is. Besides, the henches seem to find his crazy useful. He is the perfect “soldier.” He is the kind you can send on any mission, and he’ll follow through with childish enthusiasm. He is the kind that you can dare to do about anything, yet, at the same time, Schwinn is also the type that’ll do even when asked not to. He is the kid that always touches the hot stove after been warned not to, and instead of cursing and whining about the pain, he’ll laugh it off.

Scwhinn is a laugher, and you hardly ever see him without a smile or a devilish smirk. He smiles because he sure as hell won’t cry, and his laughs vary with each mood. He has a smile and a laugh for about any situation, and those who actually know him can tell each laugh and smile apart. But that is it - not many people know him. It isn’t for Schwinn’s lack of trying. He is the sort that attracts bad company - company that doesn’t stick around for the long haul, or company that ends up getting him into far worse trouble than he could have ever managed on his own. You seen, Schwinn actually thirsts for affection. He wants to talk to you, and he thrives on companionship; however, the warehouse isn’t exactly the place for cuddling or affectionate pats on the shoulder. That is why he still sneaks out to visit his brother, Alonzo. Granted, Schwinn knows he is not allowed on Jellicle territory, but he doesn’t care. What are they going to do? Tell him to go home? HA! He has been threatened more times than he can count by protectors, and Alonzo always seems to greet him with a “dammit, Schwinn!”, but at least his brother loves him, right? Right?

Despite being an adult, Schwinn has the tendency to look at anything and everyone with a child-like view. Everything is interesting, and everyone is a new puzzle to solve. He wants to get to know you, and he wants to be of service to you, and for that reason, he can be rather gullible. If you acknowledge or talk to him, he is your immediate best friend. He is like a puppy; far too trusting for his own good and extremely naive. He is the sort that could easily become someone’s puppet, and he could easily be brainwashed to believe anything.

Subconsciously, all of his recklessness and his thoughtless behavior comes from a need for attention and approval. He wants to end a successful mission with a “good job” and a thumbs up. Both are extremely rare to come by in the warehouse, which is most likely why Schwinn always volunteers for the missions no one else wants to take, or fights the big guy down at the ring for the hell of it. He wants to prove his worth, and he wants someone to notice his effort.

But, at the same time, in some twisted fashion, Schwinn likes to test the waters. He likes doing what others find insane, because he gets pleasure out of it. He is one of those weirdoes that gets off on pain and adrenaline. In other words, he likes it rough. He wants to feel the burn, because it makes him feel alive. He wants to feel himself gasp for air, because it means he still has a fighting chance. While this may seem institutionally insane to most, Schwinn doesn’t think himself as “crazy.” To him, living life on the edge is the only way to live. If you sit around and constantly watch your step, then to him, you might as well already be dead. If he is to die, he is going to die doing something.

Lastly, although his quirks could easily institutionalize him, Schwinn is good. He isn’t mean, nor is he the sort to bully. He can climb his way up the ladder without shoving others around. He doesn’t mind breaking himself, but he doesn’t want to “break” anyone else. That isn’t his cup o’ tea. He wants to befriend whomever he can, and he is extremely gentle with animals of other species as well as kittens. Schwinn doesn’t want to eat the baby bunny - he wants to play with it. Though, he hardly knows how to play with children of his own species. His idea of baby sitting a kitten is throwing a stick for it, telling it to “go get it” and coax it to bring it back. Kittens seem to like to play “fetch” and wrestle, and he is perfectly fine with that. He’ll indulge them in both activities. He’d probably be a good dad someday, or at least be an “attentive” parent; however, the poor kid might end up as screwy as he is.

Ultimately, Schwinn is weird. I think we can all agree on that. Some may think that in a good way, while others probably think he’s just a fool destined to kill himself out of reckless stupidity. Either way, whatever your opinion is of him, Schwinn has made it his business to make a name for himself, one way or another. He refuses to be forgotten.

History: Schwinn has been an odd ball from day one. He was the second and youngest son of Bartle and Chenoa, and is the younger brother of Alonzo. He is an oddity because he is what humans call a “chimera” cat - meaning his face his split completely down the middle. One side of Schwinn’s face his completely black with a green eye, while the other is white with grey markings and a blue eye. Chimera’s are the result of a genetic mishap where two individual DNA strands become one, and/or the result of the merging of multiple fertilized eggs - hence is why Schwinn always says he “ate his twin.”

As soon as he was able to walk, he trailed after Alonzo like a stage five clinger. Alonzo could do no wrong in his eyes, and if you ever asked him who raised him, he’ll say his brother’s name. Needless to say, that wasn’t technically the case. Yes, Alonzo let Schwinn pretend to be his “shadow” day in and day out, but Chenoa was particularly fond of her youngest, and worried after him endlessly. Bartle told her that she was being over protective, but her excuse was always that a mother has a soft spot of her sons - that and the fact that Schwinn was a quite the handful.

Bartle was a protector for the Jellicle tribe when Deuteronomy first took leadership. Seeing much promise in his elder son, Bartle often took Alonzo with him while on duty and prepped him at a young age. Because he wanted to do everything his older brother did, Schwinn was eager to follow along; however, he father urged him to stay with Chenoa on the account that he was “too young.” Truth be told, Bartle did not see the same leadership potential in his youngest son, and felt it best that Schwinn remain under the watchful eye of his mother.

Being denied the opportunity to be trained as an equal to his brother got under Schwinn’s skin. Even though he was still extremely young, it bothered him tremendously, and from then on, the young tom fought to prove himself endlessly. Granted, he gave his mother one-too many heart attacks, but Schwinn wanted to be acknowledged by his father - he wanted Bartle to see that he too was just as capable as Alonzo.

Naturally, Schwinn never got what he wanted. His father continued to tell him “no”, and he was left with his mother who would try to soothe his sore heart by telling him he’d find his calling elsewhere. Still, Schwinn wouldn’t have it. If anything, he was determined.

One afternoon while out walking the perimeter of the Jellicle yard with his mother, Schwinn stepped away from the sidewalk and onto the road. He had been chatting away - oblivious to his mistake in step to care. Chenoa tried to correct him. She told him to get back on the side walk “this instant young man,” but before Schwinn could obey, the headlights of a car crept way too close for comfort. The only thing Schwinn remembers in being blinded by light, a harsh shove, and his face meeting the cold concrete. When he came to, he was horrified by the sight of his mother, dead, in the middle of the road.

Schwinn’s screams and cries caught the attention of multiple protectors, but by the time Bartle and Alonzo showed up, his cries evaporated into hysterical laughter. Alonzo tried to reason with Bartle -claiming that his brother was in shock, but Bartle would have none of it. He blamed Chenoa’s death on Schwinn, saying things like “how can you be a protector when you can’t even protect your own mother” and “see, I told you! your recklessness would get someone killed someday!”

Schwinn was crushed. Alonzo tried his best to console him, but no matter what Alonzo said or did in an attempt to help, Schwinn wasn’t having it. Something had already snapped. He still had the desire to help - to be as useful as his brother - but Schwinn seemed to not have any personal boundaries. He seemed to not care for his own well being and put himself in situations that only infuriated his father more.

He eventually lost the complete affection of his father (or at least what was left), and even Alonzo became wary of him. Of course, Alonzo still showed that he loved him and still does to this day, but his elder brother became stand-offish, and began to look at him as if he was some broken thing, without the ability to be fixed.

Not wanting any part of Alonzo’s “I feel sorry for you” looks or his father’s “fuck you” frowns, Schwinn left. He wandered the streets for a while, getting tangled up in the wrong crowd and becoming a regular down at the fighting rings. He became a “hench” shortly after one of Macavity’s followers took notice of him down at the rings and told him that he’d “fit in just fine” at the warehouse. Having nowhere else to go, Schwinn agreed to join up, and has remained at the warehouse since.

Bartle has since passed, but Schwinn often wishes he could rub it in his old man’s face at how useful he has become to the henches - that he could have been just as useful to the jellicles had he been given the chance, but no. He knows Alonzo is disappointed in his choice to join to henches, and has warned him multiple times to keep out of the junkyard for his own safety, but when has Schwinn ever obeyed? Hell no. He does what ever the hell he wants without any second thought, and while that may catch up to him someday, he isn’t dead yet. Not by a long shot.