Editing Cradle (section)

==History==
===Background===
Ryan had psychopathic tendencies ever since he was a child. As such, he was a huge pain to deal with, as he would constantly torment his parents, teachers, and classmates.

Cradle had a tense relationship with his parents and teachers, who felt that he had unrealized potential that he wasn't living up to; this gradually caused him to isolate himself from others.<ref name="4b1">A hand slamming down on the table, a paper beneath it.  A mouth opening.  A man that might have been Cradle’s father spoke, but it wasn’t words that came out.  It was the frantic cries of the crowd, the screams, the shouted jumble.<br/><br/>The paper crumpled slightly as the hand on it closed into more of a fist.<br/><br/>In the background, a very prim and proper woman stood with her back to Cradle.<br/><br/>''The parents,'' Rain interpreted.  ''Disappointment and anger.  I can understand that.'' - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/02/13/shade-interlude-4b/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 4b II]]</ref><ref>''The principal,'' Rain interpreted.  He’d seen variations on this.  It was usually like this, or else smoke, rubble, or broken glass poured from people’s mouths instead of words.  ''Cradle wasn’t doing so well?''<br/><br/>He could understand that too.<br/><br/>''It’s even of a similar vein.  Unrealized potential, as far as I can understand it.  Report cards, teachers, father figures, they want something from him and he doesn’t deliver.  He doesn’t hand it over.''<br/><br/>Then the long hallway.  The trudge.  Cradle’s hand was visible as he reached up to fix his glasses, as he reached out to the window.  In the distance, far away, the sounds of disaster could be heard.  The stampede, the fire.<br/><br/>''School again?  A lonely hallway?  Isolation?  I used to call him the recluse.'' - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/02/13/shade-interlude-4b/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 4b II]]</ref>

Things eventually improved for Cradle, and he began to feel happier about his situation in life.<ref name="6.5 2">“I was getting everything set up, finally living the life I wanted to live, and he fucked it all up.  He pulled me into this, he infected me, and now I’m different!”<br/><br/>I opened my mouth to respond, to retort, bait out more and keep Cradle’s attention, so we could figure out a way to get Rain away.  If Vista could get to Sveta and Rain- and it looked like she was heading that way-<br/><br/>“He violated my self!” Cradle’s words were more raw than any others I’d heard from him.  Angrier. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/04/28/pitch-6-5/ Excerpt] from [[Pitch 6.5]]</ref> Sometime following Gold Morning, however, Cradle was caught in the stampede of people attempting to escape the mall fire set by a group of [[Fallen]], where he lost his glasses and was trampled by the crowd as he tried to retrieve them. Pleading for help but getting none, Cradle had a [[tinker]] trigger, becoming part of a [[cluster]] with [[Snag]], [[Love Lost]], and [[Rain]].<ref>Twice, he reached for the glasses, and his hands were stepped on.  There was a desperation in it, more of a struggle to get them than there was even an attempt to stand.  The scene was blurred but his hands were as clear as anything.<br/><br/>Close by, a woman screamed, and the sound was prolonged, multi-part.<br/><br/>He found his glasses and put them to his face with bleeding fingers.  He was kicked, stepped on.<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>''Pleading for help, reaching and unanswered,'' Rain interpreted.<br/><br/>''How did all of what came before lead into this?'' - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/02/13/shade-interlude-4b/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 4b II]]</ref>

After his trigger, Cradle buried himself into his workshop, amassing mercenary contacts, resources, and favors.
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===Story Start===
===[[Gold Morning]]===
Survived the event
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===[[Glow-worm]]===
Along with Snag and Love Lost, Cradle began working to kill Rain, collecting the money and favors necessary to get people together to do so. Over the course of a year, Cradle developed his Tinker technology.<ref name="6.5 3">A tinker who’d had a year to prepare, a team funneling him resources, and apparently a bit of talent to boot. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/04/28/pitch-6-5/ Excerpt] from [[Pitch 6.5]]</ref>
===Early-[[Ward]]===
Cradle was looking into his cluster's situation, reaching out to someone who "[did] interesting things with people and sleep" to begin experimenting.<ref>Someone else spoke, quiet enough he was almost inaudible.  It was how he usually talked.  “You two should know I’m looking into our situation here.  I’ll be experimenting soon, so you should know things might get weird.” [...] “I’m reaching out to someone.  They do interesting things with people and sleep.  I have no clue what’s going to happen, but it’s possible I won’t show up, or I’ll have a guest.  Tomorrow.” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/02/06/shade-interlude-4a/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 4a II]]</ref>

Cradle and the others recruited a large number of mercenaries from [[Hollow Point]], with help from [[Tattletale]] and the [[Undersiders]], in order to lead an attack upon the [[Fallen]] compound and kill Rain.<ref>[[Shadow 5.5]]</ref> Their plan eventually came to fruition with the [[Mathers Compound Assault]], though not without [[Breakthrough|Rain's team]] involving other hero groups.

Along with the rest of his cluster, Cradle fainted when Snag was killed.<ref>Snag had already fallen.  Either he’d been hit, or he’d elected to try moving, because one of the silver lines had split.  His neck was gouged where it joined the shoulder, a wound deep enough it should have exposed shoulderblade and collarbone.  It didn’t, because the blood was thick, and his beard was dense.<br/><br/>Rain was on the ground.  In the distance, perched on a hill, Cradle slumped on his platform. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/04/03/shadow-5-12/ Excerpt] from [[Shadow 5.12]]</ref> He received one of Snag's tokens.<ref>Three pieces of glass, striking the pointed peak of crystal at the center of the dais, bouncing off unpredictably.<br/><br/>Two landed in the Fallen boy’s space.  One landed in Cradle’s.  Love Lost ignored them, didn’t even glance at them.  She stared across the dais at him, trying to see him in the growing darkness. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/04/10/shadow-interlude-5-y/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 5y II]]</ref>

Later on during the battle, Cradle and his hired mercenary [[Operator Red]] were eventually able to capture and torture Rain, until they were found by the heroes. He tried to have the heroes back down, but was unsuccessful.<ref name="6.5">“I’m not the bastard here,” Cradle said.  “He is.  Everyone we’ve told the story to has agreed it’s fair.  When the bad guy is shitty enough, it stops being revenge and starts being justice.”<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>“What do you think is going to happen, Cradle?” Capricorn asked.  He was incredulous as he asked, “You really think I’m going to walk away when you’ve done this to my friend?”<br/><br/>“What I want to happen, is for Operator Red and I to walk away.  You walk away, and leave the Fallen asshole here.  Your friend killed my friend and clustermate, the scales are even, we can resent each other and still never see each other again.” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/04/28/pitch-6-5/ Excerpt] from [[Pitch 6.5]]</ref> After a fight, Cradle was captured; [[Tattletale]] attempted to negotiate for his release, but dropped her request following pressure from the other [[Undersiders]].<ref>“Amends,” she said.  “I’ll point you at the Fallen.  You don’t have to give me Cradle.  If I really need him, I’ll discuss it with you and get permission first.” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/05/08/pitch-6-8/ Excerpt] from [[Pitch 6.8]]</ref>

===Post-[[Mathers Compound Assault|Fallen Fall]]===
Cradle was put into custody at the same prison as Rain and Love Lost. He apparently had been "doing a lot of business," but had few allies and was being frozen out by Tattletale.<ref>“Cradle is in custody here,” I explained.  “Other end of this complex.  I wasn’t able to check in for his meeting with the court processors, because I had physio.  I would have skipped, but Capricorn had it.”<br/><br/>“I looked in, sat in the back,” Capricorn said.  “It went by quick.  He’s been doing a lot of business, which is working against him now, because he can’t explain where his money came from, but he doesn’t have many friends, either.  Not while Tattletale is freezing him out.”<br/><br/>“She’s staying out of it?” Rain asked.<br/><br/>“She’s staying out of it,” I confirmed.  “As far as we can tell.  It’s hard to know for sure with the masterminds.” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/07/14/beacon-8-4/ Excerpt] from [[Beacon 8.4]]</ref> He was presumably dragged into [[Goddess|Goddess']] [[Goddess' Takeover|attack on the prison]].

===Post-[[Goddess' Takeover]]===
Using a scan of [[Disjoint]]'s power, Cradle created a weapon capable of dismembering people without killing them. He lured the [[Navigators]] to a location, where his mercenaries tested the weapon on heroes.

[[Breakthrough]] and the [[Undersiders]] attempted to keep him from making contact with Love Lost, lest he drain her powers with [[March]]'s assistance.<ref>[[Interlude 11.a II]]</ref> Unfortunately, all three of villains were already coordinating together, and manage to dispatch two out of three groups sent after them, taking multiple people hostage.

Once Love Lost overstays her usefulness and even dares to bring [[Colt|another parahuman]] into cluster Cradle proceeds to drain her and her bud.

Cradle retreats to [[Earth N]] again, while being protected by [[Cradle's Army|an army]] he had hired.

The remaining active capes of Breakthrough, Undersiders, and several others deploy on a mission to recover body parts and [[kill order|capture]] Cradle and his accomplices. Despite having an upper hand in battles with them, Cradle eventually gets cornered and forced to give away his method of fixing the maimed people, leaving him to the mercy of a parahuman crowd.

===Post-[[Time Bubble Pop]]===
Cradle was held captive by the [[Wardens]]. He was among the first villains to be banished into other dimension. He was contacted in relation to raid on [[Teacher]].<ref>The Wardens were wanting to make sure he didn’t have the capacity to fight back when they went through the portal to his campsite to talk to him about the potential raid.  Reducing his capacity by having him hand over tokens. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/07/23/dying-15-6/ Excerpt] from [[Dying 15.6]]</ref>

===Post-[[Attack on Teacher]]===
During [[Breakthrough]]'s invasion into the dream-room, he continued to be uncooperative, attacked them, and was killed.<ref name="II16.10">[[From Within 16.10]]</ref> This attack left his body brain damaged beyond repair.<ref>“I say two or three because Cradle, a twenty year old with glasses, we killed him in the dream-space last night, he apparently ended up brain damaged beyond repair.  I don’t know if he comes back.” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/01/11/infrared-19-b/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 19.b II]]</ref>