Master Bruce's Multiverse Of Madness

[Master Bruce]

Ultimate One Universe: Year One Application



Character You're Applying For: Batman/Bruce Wayne

Powers And Abilities: No physical powers, but is a master of twenty-seven martial arts, a gifted detective, and a billionaire with limitless resources that provide him with an arsenal of state-of-the-art gadgets and vehicles.

Origin And Backstory (In A Maximum Of Four Paragraphs): Born as the son of a wealthy philantropist and the head doctor of Arkham Asylum, Bruce Wayne witnessed the unthinkable whenever a mugger ended the lives of his parents on the streets of Gotham City. Suffering severe post-traumatic stress from the event, young Bruce was put under the care of legal guardian Alfred Pennyworth, who sought the treatment of Martha Wayne's dearest friend, psychologist Leslie Thompkins. Together they would act as Bruce's surrogates, trying to shield him from the ever-present public eye as he was mentally rebuilt. But despite their best efforts, Bruce would never be psychologically whole again.

Eventually fleeing the country in the middle of his senior year at Bludhaven University, Bruce travelled to the most remote areas of Asia and Europe and spent a period of ten years engaging in what he considered to be extreme trauma therapy. This soon evolved into lessons under a series of different masters that would incidentally make him an adept thief, a cunning detective, and a brutal hand-to-hand combatant. His experiences brought him closer to the criminal underworld as he began to see his own psychosis take on some of their habits - that is where he learned the nature of fear, and how powerful of a weapon it could truly become.

Under the tutilege of the legendary Ra's Al Ghul of The League Of Shadows, Bruce would learn to face his own fears in the dangerous Thogal ritual, meant to simulate a state between life and death to achieve a spirtual awakening. All that Wayne found waiting for him were shadows. Echoes of something he didn't fully understand, until he reached out - and was met by a large nest of bats, circling out of the monolithic caverns that The League operated from. But a falling out would occur whenever Bruce revealed that he held no desire to take his enemy's lives, leading to a duel between master and student that would only stop when the master's daughter forbade her father from delivering the killing blow. Exiled, Bruce travelled back to the United States at the age of 28.

Discovering that Gotham had become crippled by inner-city corruption headed by what was considered The Five Families, including mafioso Carmine Falcone, his rival Salvatore Maroni, a Siberian native that took to calling himself The Penguin, and a powerful drug lord known only as Poison Ivy, Bruce took up a mask and a series of gadgets supplied by his family's company of Waynetech and became a vigilante. But after being beaten half to death by the masked gang of sociopaths calling themselves The Royal Flush Gang, led by an individual called Red Hood, Wayne was forced to reconsider the nature of fear as he understood it. Only in a state of euphoria brought about by blood loss did he revisit his incident in the caves during Thogal, and remember the fear that overcame him when he was attacked by the bats. And so in order to strike terror into Gotham's criminals, a Bat is precisely what he would become.

What Makes This Character 'Ultimate'?: The comics, the movies, The Animated Series. The image that they conjure in your head is who he's destined to become - but for now, he's still new to everything. So his aversion to using guns, for instance, isn't exactly set in stone yet even if he still doesn't use them to kill. In addition, his psychosis is a little more unhinged, with vivid hallucinations and dreams often plaguing his waking hours whenever he's not fighting criminals, along with his violent tendencies being a little more brutal in his need to make criminals fear him. He also doesn't live in Wayne Manor or have a traditional Batcave, choosing to live in an inner-city penthouse with an underground bunker that leads out into a massive tunnel system beneath Gotham. This is Batman by way of the version Frank Miller created, if that version also produced an offspring with the Denny O'Neil and Scott Snyder versions that favor the humanistic detective. Mine sits at a happy medium.

As far as Gotham itself is concerned, virtually every supporting character is different from how they're usually portrayed. Alfred isn't Bruce's butler and is more of a proactive agent for the cause, Gordon isn't his ally in any capacity and the police almost entirely distrust Batman (The Bat-Signal still exists, but with a twist), Barbara Gordon is already paralyzed and will never become Batgirl, and Jason Todd isn't a Robin or a vigilante. The big villains are all going to be reinvented in ways that feel familiar but operate differently, aswell. And then there's the interconnected crime families, who are going to more closely resemble the warring factions of Westeros from Game Of Thrones than any previous incarnation.

Lastly, I've toned down the whole 'master of everything' element of his character. He's good at what he does, but I wouldn't call him the best ever as a fighter, or even close to the World's Greatest Detective. He's a man who learned alot of tricks that make him a force to be reckoned with against street criminals, with the cash to pick up his slack. If he were to go toe-to-toe with Daredevil, for instance, he'd probably do alright. But a fight with Captain America or Iron Man would leave him dusted fairly easily, not to mention a certain Man of Steel. And he's definitely not the brilliant strategist that makes the Batman of the comics seem almost ridiculously untouchable, with plans upon plans for every possible outcome. He's simply quick on his feet and lucky to be alive.

Supporting Characters: I'll start with his allies and leave the exact roles of his enemies as an in-game surprise.

Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's mentor and trusted field agent, among many other things. Raising Bruce from the time his parents were murdered, Alfred has overseen most of Bruce's training abroad and continues to act as his moral compass.

Captain James Gordon, Batman's relentless law-abiding rival who believes him to be a criminal. He's an honest cop and honorable man, but belives Batman to be the cause of several of the city's newest threats.

Harvey Dent, Bruce's best friend since boarding school and the city's crusading A.D.A. Unwittingly acts as an informat of Batman's through Bruce's charade as a carefree friend for Dent to vent his frustrations at.

Oracle, Batman's online accomplice whose identity even he doesn't know. In actuality, she is Barbara Gordon, the wheelchair bound teenage daughter of the Captain with a vendetta all her own.

Lucius Fox, Bruce's armorer, who outfits him with the latest in scrapped military tech. Fox also currently acts as a member of the board of directors for Wayne Enterprises, keeping an eye on it's shady business dealings with a potential buyer in the majority shares, Roman Sionis.

Jason Todd, Batman's twenty-something streetwise informant and occasional mechanic, responsible for customizing the equipment Fox provides. Known for his ability to seamlessly infiltrate the local gangs.

Leslie Thompkins, Bruce's psychiatrist and a surrogate mother who helps guide Bruce through the darkness. She also works as a doctor in Arkham Asylum, where her care is considered kinder to that of men like Jonathan Crane and Professor Hugo Strange, the Asylum's administrator.

Duke Thomas, Batman's only informant from within the GCPD. One of the few honest cops in Gordon's precinct, he nevertheless only seeks the vigilante's help in times of absolute crisis and only begrudingly feeds him information out of loyalty to Gordon.

Selina Kyle, Bruce's liason to the elite of Gotham. The daughter of crimelord Carmine Falcone, whose real alliegances are routinely questionable, she is primarily responsible for introducing the billionaire to some of the city's most powerful individuals.

A.C.E, Batman's Waynetech-provided A.I. that acts as a digital super-weapon, able to black out portions of the city, remotely control his vehicles, give him three-dimensional readouts of his surroundings, and hack into the GCPD criminal database, among many other features.

And Katherine 'Kate' Kane, Bruce's cousin and one of only a handful of blood relatives. Still a teenager, she occasionally resides in Wayne Tower to escape her militant father. She remains unaware of Bruce's double life.

Sample Post:

Prologue

Gotham City, Warehouse 2120
12:41 AM

John "Johnny Boy" Gobbs coughed as the polluted midnight air hanging over the Gotham City Docks filled his lungs. A two-bit hustler for the Maroni crime family for the last seven years, Gobbs had developed somewhat of a reputation among his peers in the criminal underworld for being a guy who took nothing seriously. When the heat came down, he was usually the first one to throw up the white flag and take one for the team, knowing that he'd be back out on the streets by dawn's early light. It was just how that sort of thing worked in Gotham. The cops were on Salvatore Maroni's personal payroll, the one hold that the gangster had on The Roman to keep himself ahead of the game. As far as Gobbs was concerned, that made Sal untouchable, and even a low-level man like Johnny Boy considered himself fortunate to be on the winning team.

So why he'd been assigned to guard an import of weapons for The Red Triangle, who had established themselves as an enemy to both the Maroni's Capo Italiana and The Roman's Syndicate, was way beyond him. He and a small army had been given the order by one of Maroni's personal guard, Anthony "Fat Tony" Zucco, to work with the Russian outfit to ensure that a safe deposit was made to a secondary location without incident. But the pay was more than generous, and Gobbs figured that if he had a chance to pay off his car by the end of the month just for lending a helping hand, asking questions were the last thing on his mind.

Sitting guard in the loading bay, Gobbs pulled a joint from his jacket that he'd been saving for a night like this and began to roll. As he was about to light it up, another lieutenant for his outfit made his way through the door and immediately gave him a look. Gobbs shrugged.

"Hey, don't gimme that look. You know me, I gotta rip one off before we get down to business."

The lieutenant was a gruff, no-nonsense up and comer named Jefferson Skeevers. With a rap sheet a mile long and a particular vice for the city's vast market of narcotics, Skeevers nevertheless cut the bullshit whenever it came to his work and expected everyone else to do the same.

"Not tonight, Gobbs. We gotta stay alert. All hands on deck type'a situation."'

---

"Now, you mentioned that you've been having nightmares again. Tell me about those."

Leslie Thompkins sips at a freshly brewed cup of tea as I sit on a couch directly infront of her, trying to think of how to word exactly what I saw this morning. These sessions have been very helpful, I believe, in relieving my mind of the stress that comes with the life I've chosen. But the sheer ferocity of these dreams, and the frequency of which they've been happening. I'm not entirely sure that I trust even Leslie to make sense of them yet. Not until I've made sense of them myself, if I ever even can. The medication she's prescribed to me is starting to lose it's effect - not to mention that it's affected my nightly performance, of which I can't abide.

"It starts..."

I clear my throat. "It starts with something I can't really understand. You've heard of the metahuman problem?"

Leslie nods. "I wouldn't necessarily say that I believe it to be a problem, per se, but I read the papers like everyone. I know about the more media friendly types."

Contrary to what she believes, I disagree. Ever since these superhumans began appearing in the public eye, I've had to prepare strategies for entirely new threats. Unimaginable threats that I may or may not even ever come into contact with. Threats that don't so much cause disruption in Gotham as represent a new danger I'd never anticipated: one that could level the city with a thought, or a fist. Alfred says I'm paranoid. I like to think I'm being realistic.

"Hh. Well, there's one in particular that I haven't been able to get out of my head."

I take a sip of the coffee that Leslie prepared, knowing my affinity for cinnamon and sugar mixed with milk. My mother's favorite, as Leslie knew well, given they were friends for fifteen years. It's one of the few links I have left to my mother, after all these years. Well. One of the... saner links, I suppose.

---

Taking the blunt from him, Skeevers made sure to stuff it in his own pocket. Gobbs didn't know whether that meant that he was holding onto it temporarily or, more likely, that he'd just been robbed. But he was more interested in what happened next, as Skeevers replaced his now empty hand with a 44. magnum. Gobbs looked at the weapon curiously, nevertheless loading the clip he was then handed.

"Hey, I already got a piece. I came prepared. What's with the extra bit of paranoia?"

Skeevers side-eyed him. "What, you ain't heard? This ain't a simple cargo drop tonight, man. Maroni's cut a deal with The Roman on this, splitting it three ways with The Penguin. They got a mutual enemy, and that piece of shit's been hitting us hard the last couple of weeks. Nobody knows when or where he's gonna hit next, but we wanna make sure he doesn't make it outta here alive."

Gobbs' eyebrows raised. "You're shitting me. All this is because of one guy?"

"One guy that put seven of Zucco's guys in traction last night, yeah. One hell of a guy."

"Heh. Sounds like the families are looking out for The Boogeyman."

Skeevers narrowed his eyes. "Motherfucker, from what I heard... that ain't too far off."

Despite being relatively well informed, Johnny Boy was unable to wrap his head around what he'd just heard. One guy had hit the families and lived? An assassin, maybe? Word on the street was that the leader of the drug trade, some crazy plant-loving bitch calling herself Poison Ivy, had doubled up on her own private set of muscle to protect her assets from falling into the wrong hands. She had everyone from Floyd Lawton to El Gato, The Catman, working for her now. Was this the start of a territorial thing?

"Alright, you don't gotta tell me twice. I'll keep a watch."

Skeevers nodded and loaded his semi-automatic, heading back out to oversee the loading crew. As the minutes passed by, Gobbs found himself reaching back into his pocket to see if there were any traces of weed left in his stash. Nothing on the CCTV feed indicated that there was anything but business as usual for the boys outside, so he figured all of this paranoia was for nothing. And if it was indeed one guy to look out for, there were at least twenty armed guards waiting to pump him full of lead.

"Heh. The Boogeyman. These idiots really got some imagination..."

---

"They call him Superman. I've been studying news footage of him for months, weighing out the possibilities of where his abilities could have come from."

"I see. And you've been drawn to this one in particular, because?"

"Leslie, the man can fly and bend steel with his bare hands.", I reply, narrowing my eyes. "He's virtually invulnerable to pain and affliction, as far as I can tell. Bullets bounce off of his skin."

Leslie raises an eyebrow. "You sound almost envious of this power."

"I wouldn't say envious. I'd say that it makes me afraid. That one day, he could land out of the skies and make his way into Gotham. And that I wouldn't know what the hell to do."

With a faint sigh, she massages the bridge of her nose. "So I assume, then, that this dream had to do with this... Superman?"

"Something like him, I suppose."

I place the mug of coffee infront of me and put my hands together.

"It starts with a routine sweep of the East End. I'm on patrol, looking into the new drug trade that answers to an individual known on the streets as The Penguin.", I begin. "I'm watching them load the product into their trucks, checking serial numbers. Double checking orders given via tablet. And just as I'm about to make my entrance and prevent those drugs from hitting the streets..."

There's a lilt of anger in my voice. "I feel a singe of red heat start to burn at the base of my skull. Whenever I turn around, I see..."

"You see what, Bruce?"

---

As he took out his flask of whiskey and took a swig, something immediately caught his attention. A flicker of movement that had shown up out of the left corner of his eye. Johnny Boy scanned the area closely, swearing that he'd seen two of The Roman's men patrolling the area not just a second ago. But there was nobody there. His own paranoia suddenly rising, Gobbs held onto the .44 a bit more firmly.

"What the hell?", he whispered to himself. "That ain't..."

And that's when it really started. Suddenly, guys just started disappearing from the feed, left and right. Pulled up into the air, some by their feet, others from around their chests. Like some sort of rope or cable just came down and plucked them from the Earth. Gobbs had been far from the other one to notice this bizarre phenomena as he could hear Skeevers barking orders from outside. Seconds later, the gunfire began, and Gobbs leapt to his feet with his weapon raised.

"Jesus Christ!"

Running towards the door, he could see glimpses of activity from the windows. Something was happening alright, but it was hard to tell what exactly it was. A shadow had swooped down over the guys guarding the outpost leading into the cargo bay, and was currently taking out everything in it's wake. Gobbs could hear bullets flying, but what what worried him was that he heard a more prominent set of sounds - bones crunching and grown men screaming for their lives. Kicking open the door, Johnny Boy Gobbs steadied himself and aimed high.

But no one was left standing. Johnny Gobbs gasped as he looked down to his feet, to find Skeevers flat on his face. He didn't know if the guy was dead or unconscious, but whoever had got to him was still there. He could hear him. Some kind of weird rustling, like leather flapping against the wind. Gobbs looked at the scores of similarly immobile figures ahead of him and immediately sheathed his gun.

---

"Him. Floating. Ready to cut me down. Larger than life, with the abilities of a God. And I start to realize that I'm only a man in a costume. Nothing in the belt can save me. Or rather, the belt itself even disappears. I can't remember."

I sigh myself, frustrated. "It doesn't make sense, Leslie. From everything I gathered, this 'Superman' is nothing but benevolent. He helps people. Saves them in ways that I could never do myself. Why is it that he's my enemy in these dreams?"

Leslie takes a long pause. I know that she wants to say more, particularly about the violence. She's had long conversations with me in the past. Needless to say, she was less than thrilled with my choice of profession in life whenever I confided in her, but she's unwilling to turn me in. Both as a professional courtesy and out of a need to protect me, given she and Alfred were the only ones there after I lost my parents. I've often wondered if that's manipulation on my part, to prevent incarceration. Like I've unwittingly blackmailed her into continuing these sessions, knowing what I truly am. Knowing that I break the law on a regular basis and inflict pain on people in a way that she despises.

But, she's stuck with me. And I'm stuck with her. I think that in the end, it helps us both to be able to have a completely open forum about this. Especially if we don't say my other name aloud. The one that the press clung to, the one that my enemies whisper in the dark.

---

"Fuck. Shit. Fuck!"

Turning tail, Gobbs darts immediately for the parking lot, running over several groaning bodies. That at least told him they were alive, but none were in a condition to stand. And if Gobbs were anything, he was no goddamn fool. If whoever had hit them was able to take on a small army and win, Johnny Boy wouldn't last a second. He'd catch hell from Zucco, but he figured that was more favorable to having his head bashed in by something out of a horror movie.

"OH, FUCK!"

Gobbs was so out of sorts and frantic by the sight of grown men lining the docks on their stomachs that by the time he reached the edge of the platform he'd been stationed on, he immediately realized that he had been on the second floor of the loading bay and not the first. In essence, Johnny Gobbs had gotten ripped and took a walk off a roof.

Falling straight into the air, Gobbs got one look at the pavement below and closed his eyes. No one would mourn him, as he didn't have any immediate family. He had been seeing a girl from Bludhaven for a few months, but it was nothing serious. And he sure as hell didn't expect Sal Maroni to attend his funeral. All in all, he figured he'd be written off as no big loss.

---

"Bruce, I have to be blunt when I say this. I think what you're experiencing is envy. I don't think that this man is a threat to you, and I think that you know that.", she begins. "But I do believe that the power he represents is threatening to you on a professional, perhaps even psychological level."

I raise an eyebrow. "Professional..."

"He's a crimefighter. A hero, to a great many people.", she explains. "Is that not what you wish to be yourself? Even if you're trying to scare others, isn't he practically everything you want to be? Renowned for your ability to help others?"

I take a moment to consider this.

"No."

When she visibly questions my response, I elaborate.

"No, what he does, he does in a very specific way. He's out there in full view of everyone. I can never be that. I don't... want to be that. Nothing about what I do is meant for personal gain. It can't be, especially after how it got to this point. I learned a hard lesson about trying to make this mission personal. Being..."

I catch myself. "Being him allows me to take myself out of the equation. Bruce Wayne isn't the one going out there and putting himself on the line. Bruce has friends. Loved ones. Things that Wayne couldn't stand to lose. But he doesn't."

Leslie looks at me, a sense of worry coming over her face.

"Bruce, what do you mean by taking yourself out of the equation? Do you consider..."

"I consider him a separate entity, yes."

---

That's when he felt something clasp itself hard around his neck, tight as a steel bar. Gobbs began to choke, watching out as his descent slowed down. And he noticed that whatever was around his neck wasn't made of steel, but was flesh and muscle. Garbed in black, with three razor-like fins protruding from the forearm. Gobbs breathed a sigh of relief for only a moment, before he realized that his descent was turning into an ascension, and whoever had grabbed him wasn't letting go.

"Please... I don't... You don't gotta..."

By the time that Gobbs got a decent look at the face of his attacker, he was screaming too.

---

She's silent.

"I know how that sounds, but..."

"It sounds like dissociative identity disorder, Bruce. And if that's the case, we may need to begin some form of cognitive behavior therapy, or dialectical behavioral therapy. Something more than your routine visitations."

"Leslie."

I lean forward. "I know who I am. I'm not in any doubt of that. But... I do try and keep myself separated from it all. I don't know whether it's to protect myself, or other people, but I have a need to ensure that I can establish plausible deniability."

"What if that's not what you're seeking? Because to me, that sounds closer to actual denial."

I try and answer, but stop. Because for the life of me, I don't know if she could be right.

"At the very least, we should consider switching your medications. Clozapine doesn't seem to have helped your hallucinations if you're having dreams like this."

Fighting back my immediate resistance, I lean back into the couch.

"Whatever you're willing to prescribe, I'll be looking into it myself before I consider taking it."

Taking out a notepad, she begins jotting down a perscription nevertheless.

"Yes, you've established that your father's stubborness is quite thoroughly alive and well, these past few months.", she dryly responds. "I'm going to give you a trial of Bitizaparide. It's new to the market, but the results have been promising. More to the point, it has no chance of slowing cognitive function."

I nod, grateful. "That's all I ask."

---

Less than an hour later after the initial attack, Gobbs would be found strung up on the side of the loading bay with more than a dozen other men similarly beaten half to hell, wrapped and sealed for delivery to the police. Precinct 27, to be exact, where an idealist young police captain named James Gordon was trying to clean up corruption and avoid getting in on the take.

And only one clue would be left to the assailant's identity - a sharp, metal projectile wrapped inside the binds, dipped in a chemical solution that made fingerprints or any further identification through forensics next to impossible.

A projectile that looked to be shaped like a Bat.

Post Catalogue:

Volume 1: Ninety-Six Hours

1. Signal In The Sky
2. Terrorized And Terrorizing
3. Shall We Play A Game?
4. Shot In The Dark
5. Deadly Influences
6. Motives Unclear
7. Roads Paved With Good Intentions
8. A New Player In Town
9. Allies In The Field
10. Temperate Toxicity
11. Roman's Holiday
12. Life Or Death
13. Out Of Your Element
14. A Fight You Can't Win
15. Desperate Measures
16. Rock And A Hard Place
17. Out Of Control
18. The Impressionable
19. When All's Said And Done

Volume 2: The Dark Before The Dawn

1. Second Chance
2. Matters Of Family
3. Cold Realities
4. Seeing The Light
5. Gathering Intelligences
6. Through The Mud
7. Fist Of Clay
8. Black And Blue: Part 1 (w/ AndyC)
9. Black And Blue: Part 2 (w/ AndyC)
10. Black And Blue: Part 3 (w/ AndyC)
11. Black And Blue: Part 4 (w/ AndyC)
12. Black And Blue: Part 5 (w/ AndyC)
13. Black And Blue: Part 6 (w/ AndyC)
14. Black And Blue: Part 7 (w/ AndyC)
15. Black And Blue: Part 8 (w/ AndyC)
16. Black And Blue: Finale (w/ AndyC)
17. Cards On The Table
18. The War Will Carry On

[Master Bruce]

Name: Peter Reilly Parker*
Hero Name: Spider-Man
Known Aliases: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, The Human Spider, Spidey, Wallcrawler, Webslinger, Menace
Age: 16
Powers: A genetically mutated spider transformed Peter's DNA into that of a human/arachnid hybrid, giving him the abilities proportionate to that of a spider. These powers include the ability to stick to any solid surface, superhuman strength, agility and reflexes, a biological survival sense that warns Peter of impending danger, and an organic pair of wrist spinnerets that secrete a tensile silk.

Equipment:

Spider-Suit: Put together from the ground up using salvaged bits of technology, the head-to-toe bodysuit that Peter wears in the field is based on his amateur wrestling gear, which consisted of a red jumper and a light blue hoodie. The advanced costume is designed to help Peter navigate throughout New York, easily take advantage of his ability to stick to walls, tune the mask's two-way mirror lenses to a variety of settings, and even protrude a gliding mechanism for emergencies.

Web-Shooters: Originally built as a container to house his own webbing samples for research purposes, Peter's outfitted these wrist-mounted devices to allow him to control his webbing with precision accuracy. Without them, he can still spin simple webs and traverse an area with ease. With them, however, he can pull of considerably more difficult stunts, such as catching a falling demolition crane, snatching up several criminals at once, and creating "impact webbing" - Peter's go-to for offense.

Spidey-App: Created by Peter himself, the encrypted phone application turns any common smartphone into a self-capture camera, an NYPD bulletin feed, a wi-fi based tracking device, and a low-level hacking tool. It's also capable of storing up to a terabyte of data on a private server.

Appearance:



Known Affiliations:

Uncredited Photographer for The Daily Bugle
Rotating Employment At Various Shops And Restaurants
Junior At Midtown High School

Allies

May Parker: Peter's aunt and widow to his Uncle Ben. His maternal figure and guardian.
Harry Osborn: Peter's best friend, one of the few to treat him kindly.
Gwen Stacy: Peter's neighbor since childhood, his classmate and friend.
Mary Jane Watson: Harry's girlfriend and Peter's classmate, harboring a rebellious side.
Dr. Curt Connors: Peter and Gwen's science teacher, an incredibly gifted genetic biologist that left Oscorp in disgrace following an accident that severed his arm.
Otto Octavius: Considered one of the world's leading authorities on robotics and their application in the research for clean energy sources, Otto is Peter's idol. Labelled 'Doc Ock' by the press following the Oscorp incident, the doctor is determined to rebuild his career.
Quentin Beck: A fellow classmate and kindred spirit, also frequently targeted by Flash Thompson. Peter keeps trying to help Beck out, only to be shunned by the teen's aggressively anti-social demeanor.
Felicia Hardy: Peter's classmate and longtime crush, she is virtually unaware of the timid teenager's existence - and is likely never to learn of it, given Peter's responsibilities.
Mac Gargan: Gwen's boyfriend, the high school jock with a heart of gold. Considered one of the only members of Flash Thompson's clique to accept Peter, Gwen, Harry, and MJ.
Miles Morales: A senior at Midtown, Morales regularly accepts Peter's help on science tests in exchange for helping Peter out with his own achilles' heel, history. Miles' dad used to work with Peter's uncle when they owned a small business as electricians.
Liz Allan: Flash Thompson's girlfriend, daughter of Adrian Toomes. While cold to Peter in public, she's more lukewarm when Flash isn't looking, even going as far as to befriend Gwen and MJ.
Jessica Drew: Principal of Midtown High. She genuinely cares about her students and looks to keep the peace among a growing paranoia about mutants and metahumans.

Enemies

The Chameleon: A mysterious crimelord whose use of uncanny mimicry and penchant for disguises has put him at the top of the local gangs. He can appear to be anyone, making his identity unknown.
Norman Osborn: CEO of Oscorp Industries, Harry's father and a figure of controversy. His presence alone seems to draw up more trouble than anyone Peter actively fights.
Eugene 'Flash' Thompson: Peter's rival in school, and the frequent instigator of bullying against him and the other 'nerds' of Midtown since the fourth grade. If he has any likeable qualities, they're well hidden under an oafish need to step on the little guy.
The Rhino/Alex O'Hirn: A two-bit thief, and the first recurring enemy Spider-Man ever made. Possesses an abundant strength and resistance to injury, chalked largely up to his size.
The Sandman/William Baker: Former corrupt cop turned genetic freak of nature, able to control his molecules and redistribute them in a similar method to grains of sand.
The Vulture/Adrian Toomes: Part of Oscorp's VULTURE para-glider militia, Toomes commands a team outfitted with technologically advanced armored wing-suits for the sole purpose of protecting Oscorp and it's employees.
Electro/Francine Frye: Serial killer who, along with her betrothed Max Dillon, was caught in the same accident that Sergeant Baker into The Sandman. She now possesses latent electricity-based powers and a burning need to avenge her fallen husband.
Hammerhead/Joseph Lorenzini: The Chameleon's rival, a hot tempered crime-lord with an indestructible plate surgically grafted to his skull.
Kite-Man/Charles Brown: Kite-Man. Hell yeah.
Edward 'Eddie' Brock: A relentless reporter for The Daily Bugle who, in conjunction with shock-jock J. Jonah Jameson, looks to discredit Spider-Man at every turn. Unlike Jameson, Brock holds no shred of integrity and values fame over all else.

In-Between

J. Jonah Jameson: The television host of a nightly news program, Just The Facts With J. Jonah Jameson, the loud-mouthed veteran newsman regularly criticizes superbeings and metahumans from Superman to Iron Man, and everyone in between. His newest target is Spider-Man, and judging by the ratings generated from Jameson's rants against Queens' new hero, he's unlikely to stop questioning the web-slinger's intentions anytime soon...
'Stan': A mysterious figure that keeps watch over Peter from the sidelines. A man whom he's never actually met, but seems to know a great deal about Peter's life. For now, he'll remain distant...

Who Is This Character?: Really?

List Of Reimagined Traits:

There's not much in the way of reimagination for Peter himself, so much as a remix of a couple of different versions. He's basically 616 Spider-Man mixed with Ultimate, the MCU, the Raimi films, the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon and the Insomniac Games' universe version. He's still a teenager burdened with Great Power and Great Responsibility with roughly the same origin, but he's of the year 2019.

The real change-up is how Spider-Man's origin relates to some of the villains' origins (Peter wasn't the only one affected by Oscorp's mistake) and how the supporting cast works and interacts with him. But otherwise, this is Spider-Man as purely as I can write him.

Story Overview:

With Great Power...

Nine months ago, 15-year-old Peter Parker's life was changed forever on a class field trip. Following preliminary tests on an experimental housing chamber for negative energies discovered by Dr. Reed Richards, Oscorp Industries was promising a leap forward in future biological advancement. The kids at Midtown High were invited personally by CEO Norman Osborn, father of Midtown student, Harry, and Peter was perhaps the most excited of the group to be in attendance as robotics' expert Dr. Otto Octavius, with his specially designed robotic containment appendages, led the demonstration. But unfortunately for everyone involved, there was a breach during the active handling of the materials. Faulty equipment provided by Oscorp led to a surge of radioactive energy that, while harmless to most, did affect certain genetic materials within the nearby area. One of them happened to be a passing spider, who was spooked enough by the explosion to land on the hand of the young Parker in the midst of the crowd's panic...

Hours later, Peter awoke in the hospital to his relieved guardians, Ben and May Parker, with the news that he'd suffered little more than a bout of temporary heat exhaustion and passed out. The failure of the chamber, while an embarrassment for Oscorp, hadn't seemed to harm anyone. Even Peter's newly acquired spider-bite had been deemed non-poisonous. But there was a dramatic change happening within Peter's biochemistry that wouldn't manifest itself for weeks. After sleeping in one morning following a series of nightmares involving the arachnid, Peter awoke to realize he was late for school and hurried to meet the bus - only to accidentally jump over it and land on an adjacent wall. Discovering that he could scale the wall with ease, aswell as accidentally bend the steel girder atop the building's roof, Peter realized that he had superhuman powers.

Deciding to document his findings on Viewtube, under the moniker "HumanSpider616", Peter wore a mask as he videotaped himself performing perilous stunts - from leaping from building to building with ease to crawling the ceiling of an abandoned warehouse, lifting a car, and eventually, shooting his first web - and using it to swing across a football field. He instantly became a viral sensation, with online debates surging about whether it was all an elaborate prank or a legitimate amatuer documentary for a fledgling metahuman. For the first time in his life, Peter revelled in the attention he was receiving, but became frustrated at the fact that he couldn't tell anyone that it was his face under the mask.

When the New York State Wrestling Federation (NYSW) began to pass the videos around, the booking agent in charge of the arena found himself desperate for the same kind of publicity. Deciding to publically challenge The Human Spider with their own Heavyweight Champion, Sergei Kravinoff - known by his stage-name, Kraven The Hunter - Peter decided to take his popularity to the next level. Donning a red spandex bodysuit and a light blue hoodie to complete his attire, Peter - rechristened as The Spider-Man by the promoter - entered the ring with Kravinoff and bested him in less than three minutes, despite Kraven's immense strength and reflexes. Driven insane by the loss, Kraven publicly demanded a rematch for a cash prize, to which "Spider-Man" readily accepted.

As the excitement of his new powers corrupted Peter's sense of inferiority, his homelife began to suffer. Beginning to flirt with girls way out of his league, he engaged in a fight with life-long bully Flash Thompson and nearly shattered the teen's hand, alienating him from the rest of his class. His friendship with Gwen Stacy was briefly strained after Peter boasted about never needing to study again, convinced that he'd found his life's path without ever having to worry about college. A mentality that led to Peter dropping from straight A's to several D's, leading to an argument with his Uncle Ben. As Peter accused his uncle of trying to stifle his newfound confidence, Ben shot back with an old saying that with knowledge came a great power. And with great power, came great responsibility.

Ignoring his uncle's advice, Peter returned to the ring as Spider-Man for the rematch with Kraven. But unknown to anyone, Kraven had ingested several African herbs and stimulants that increased his strength tenfold, driving him further off the deep end as a consequence. Finding himself having to knock Kraven out before he could unleash his rage onto the crowd, Spider-Man was told never to come back, as the fight promoter blamed him for the negative press. Denied the cash prize, Peter angrily left the stadium - but not before witnessing an armed robbery at the concession stand. Allowing his pettiness to get the best of him, he simply ignored the perpetrator and walked away.

Of course, this mistake would lead to the single greatest regret of his life. A few nights later, after blowing off class for the day to continue exploring his abilities, Peter returned home to find an active crime scene outside of his house, Peter was horrified to learn that his uncle had been shot and killed during a home invasion. Assured that the suspect was cornered at a nearby shipping yard, Peter nevertheless gave into his rage and ran out, donning his Spider-Man gear and swinging to the scene. Easily overpowering the man huddled on the top floor, Peter caught a glimpse of the gunman's face - realizing that it had been the same man who robbed the stadium. Had Peter interfered when he should have, his Uncle Ben wouldn't have had to die.

And so the story goes. Taking Ben's words of great power and great responsibility to heart, Peter and his Aunt May buried him that Sunday. The following Monday night, Peter - having burned his wrestling attire, feeling it was a reminder of his failure - began to work on a different costume. He knew that if he had done the right thing with his powers, he would have been able to stop the mugger. So he promised himself that he'd never put himself above others in the use of his abilities. He'd protect the innocent whenever he could and use his gifts responsibly, no matter the cost. On that day, The Amazing Spider-Man was truly born.

Nine months later, and Peter is barely holding together his double life. While he races from job to job in order to financially support himself so that his aunt doesn't have to, a gang war is brewing between an individual calling himself The Chameleon and the ruthless crime-lord, Hammerhead. Within his personal life, Peter's friends are beginning to feel neglected, with his constant disappearances becoming harder to explain, while his grades are deteriorating even faster. And Norman Osborn has began to receive death threats from a man who's intent on carrying out his word, prompting his VULTURE strike unit to act on high alert, patrolling the skies. On the plus side, nothing can possibly get any worse...

Peter says to himself, not knowing what's coming for Peter Parker or Spider-Man.

Sample Post:

"Boy, there's just nothing I love more than being rained out on a swing home!"

I grumble to myself as the rain, almost as if the universe itself is sensing the wedgie building up between my soaked tights, begins pouring down to Biblical proportions over 5th Avenue. On a Wednesday afternoon. Funny enough, I checked the weather on my phone as I was leaving for work this morning. Sunny skies! Not a cloud in them! High of 87!

Now I know how the Yankees feel. Except, you know, I've probably got a better shot of winning the championship than them. Blindfolded, with one hand tied behind my back and no powers. They suck, is what I'm saying to myself. Why am I saying this to myself?

"Because I'm a sad, strange little man..."

Aunt May always tells me to think of all the best things in my life on days like this, where it's not so much raining cats and dogs as dumping entire buckets of zoos onto the rooftops ahead of me. Uncle Ben used to double down on that one with, "Son, for every rainy day in life, you get to enjoy years of sunshine."

Probably a good time to note that neither of them ever had to get into fights people who can actually control the weather, but hey, I'm just internally venting here. Poking my hand out infront of me in a vain attempt to see if it's somehow calmed in the forty seconds since I started on the Yankees analogy, I pull back my glove to look at my watch. Gwen and Harry wanted to see a movie tonight, and I said sure, as long as it's a matinee showing. Looks like someone's paying full price for sticking his foot in his mouth.

"Who am I kidding? That's practically my side career!", I say to myself, preparing to fire out a webline to brave the storm. "Eh, well. At least no matter what, I'm having a better day than Sandman."

Just as I say that, the distinct sound of an explosion rings out across Manhattan. My Spider-Sense buzzes loud enough to cause me to jump out from under my perch, somersault upwards, and land on the scaffolding above.

"I think I liked it better when the rain was my enemy..."

With alarms blaring from what appears to be the Fifth National Bank, I sigh to myself and briefly consider sending Gwen an apology text. But then I remember that I don't have my phone. Because I'm wearing wet, skintight underpants that can barely even hold spare change.

"Whelp, Parker. You wanted a change of pace from a lousy rainy afternoon."

Firing off a webline, the rain becomes something of a pelting series of windy scratches, as I soar high into the air and begin to fire another. Aunt May would be proud of me, because I am starting to think positively.

"Can't say you never get what you want."

- - -

_{*(Yeah, I know his middle name is Benjamin. This is a different Peter than in 616. Wanted to reflect that.)}

[Master Bruce]

C H A R A C T E R   C O N C E P T   P R O P O S A L

S T E V E   R O G E R S

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^{_{♦ ...S T E V E N   G R A N T  R O G E R S...♦...V E T E R A N / R E T I R E E  / L I V I N G   L E G E N D...♦...
...W H E A T O N , N E W   J E R S E Y... ♦ ...( F O R M E R L Y )   S . H . I . E . L . D ... ♦}}

C H A R A C T E R   C O N C E P T:

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_{"The price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay."}

At this point, the foundation of who this version of Steve is wholly belongs to @webboysurf's fantastic work all throughout last season. I only want to build on what he's established and use it to push Captain America forward. At the end of season one, especially, he had to do alot of things that would completely break a lesser man. Murdering two villains fits that bill. While not broken, Steve is definitely lingering into this season with some considerable scars. Even a man of action needs some time to re-evaluate and figure out his place when things go that dark for him, and Steve's intent is to learn from what he considers to be compromises in order to discover if there's a better way. It'll be a road that'll last all season, and I'm not content to put him back in the stars and stripes immediately. He'll have to earn that, but I hope that in the journey there, I can help build Steve Rogers into the Captain America of today rather than keep him as the Captain America of yesteryear.

Previously...

As webboysurf established, Captain America's initial premise for the game is relatively unchanged. He was the same skinny kid from Brooklyn who wanted to take the fight to the Nazis and HYDRA, got drafted for an experiment, was turned into a living legend and a symbol for freedom that would help define World War II, and never made it home - awaking in the present day instead. However, the journey that webb took him on last season was one that struck to the core of Captain America - he took Steve's old-fashioned sense of hope, paired it up with the cynicism of today, and found that Cap couldn't overcome the odds to be what the world needed of him. He was drafted as a spy for Nick Fury and Director Mace's S.H.I.E.L.D. and served for three years, became entangled in a plot by the vengeful son of Baron Zemo, reunited with his old ally Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, and most importantly, grew to love Agent Sharon Carter before tragically losing her to Zemo's vengeance - thus prompting him to end the villain's life. The season concluded with Cap outed to the world by his own government after putting an end to the terrorist Stryfe, permanently, in order to spare Diana of being goaded into murdering him herself. Due to the public nature of Stryfe's execution, S.H.I.E.L.D. was forced to cut ties with Captain America, and in exchange for leniency, Steve was forced to retire his shield at the behest of the very nation he swore to protect decades prior.

After the series of events that disillusioned him with both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the world that he once thought he knew, but learned he never really did, Steve Rogers left New York three months ago and retreated west. He now lives in partial isolation, taking up residency in the small town that was once home to his training camp in 1942. The locals don't ever really recognize him, and if they do, they keep it to themselves as he spends his days repairing an old house that belonged to a dear friend, and spends his nights catching up on every significant world event that transpired between 1945 and 2019 to observe, learn from, and form his own conclusions on modern society as it took shape without the bias of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files to blanket everything under the global peacekeeping organization's version of events.

But while Cap remains benched and unauthorized for field duty, Nick Fury and his Commandos have been struggling to balance the fallout of the Metahuman Supremacy Front's attack on New York and shutting down the machinations of the newly reformed HYDRA as they operate under the command of The Red Skull, seizing power away from Baron Zemo's personal vendetta to set a course for destruction on a worldwide stage. And while Fury himself may not think much of turning away a liability like Captain Rogers, there are those on the team - some likely, some very unlikely - who feel as though the fight with HYDRA only ends when Captain America returns.

C H A R A C T E R   M O T I V A T I O N S   &   G O A L S:

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Captain America is one of the highest echelon of characters in comics, not because of how long he's been around, but because of how writers have shaped him over the nearly 80 years of his existence. He's one of the few characters that I'd consider it an honor to play. My motivation beyond that is whenever webboysurf indicated that he'd be retiring the role, I went back and read his stuff out of curiosity. Rather than finding myself bogged down by another person's continuity, however, I really found myself envisioning his next chapter as the stories played out - to the point that as his run wrapped up the first season, everything fell into place organically to tell my story entirely unaltered. Now I just have to carry it out while trying to keep true to the established character, weaving both webb's continuity and the larger mythos of Cap's history together into a tapestry of my own.

C H A R A C T E R   N O T E S:

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Supporting Cast - Present Day

Director Nicholas Joseph Fury: The legend of Vietnam and the Gulf War, Fury recently relinquished command of the elite squadron known as The Howling Commandos, forced to become it's watchful eye rather than an activate field combatant. Inhumanly capable despite his age, his hard-won stoicism allows him to order a legion of agents worldwide to carry out Black Ops missions that would leave most others with cold feet.

The Ultimates
Following Captain America's dismissal by the United States government, The Howling Commandos were deemed unfit for military action under their current moniker. With Fury accepting the responsibility as Director of SHIELD following the assassination of Director Jeffrey Mace by the now-considered-rogue agent Roy Harper, he has secretly set up a contingency to carry on the fight against the forces of HYDRA and any other extremist organizations that cross SHIELD's path. They are...

Commander Hill: The stern and doubly blunt field leader of the team, appointed to report between the various organizations S.H.I.E.L.D. has aligned with in order to dissuade their fears that Fury's appointment as Director is ill-advised, Maria Hill is often the first to criticize the Colonel's assignments for The Ultimates. She operates between the black and white politics of the public and the gray area of secret operations that her division is forced to carry out on a regular basis. Unlike a majority of S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, she's openly loyal to the United States and it's leaders over Fury's cloak-and-dagger politics, as her position grants her the freedom to operate with impunity should the need arise. Trying to navigate who she can trust after the debacle that she sees the Captain America program as following the events in New York, Hill's goal is to ensure old dogs like Nick Fury can still fall in line - or if they can't, that they can be put away before another National Security incident falls into SHIELD's lap.

Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff: Once of the world's most formidable assassins, the Russian-turned-US intelligence operative is now at the forefront of a deadly war between S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA that has somehow turned more ruthless since the death of Heinrich Zemo. While her loyalty is unwavering, she now finds herself questioning to whom she remains loyal - Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D., Maria Hill and the United States government, or Captain Rogers himself.

Falcon/Sam Wilson: Newly recruited from the United States Airforce after an impressive career of paramilitary operations, Wilson has been outfitted by S.H.I.E.L.D. with a pair of adamantium wings connected to a flightpack. Unlike the more cynical members of the team, Wilson's optimism and patriotism represent most of what the Commandos lost when Cap was forced to retire - just with a more modern flair that Rogers could never hope to match. His grandfather was the successor to the shield after World War II.

Agent 19/Christopher Chance: A master infiltrator with a gift for impersonation, Chance was often assigned by S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect high profile diplomats as 'The Human Target' before the formation of The Ultimates. Fury recruited him to the team personally to impersonate select high-ranking members of worldwide terrorist organizations, gathering intelligence on HYDRA's activities in the wake of their reformation.

Nightshade/Eve Eden: The Ultimates' ace in the hole, Eve Eden has been a secret asset to S.H.I.E.L.D. for years as a powerful metahuman who can unlock portals to different dimensions, allowing her to take on the form of shadows in order to infiltrate enemy strongholds. Whenever the Howling Commandos were tracking Heinrich Zemo, Nightshade was the operative that kept the team a step ahead of HYDRA, unbeknownst to anyone except Fury. After spending years as apart of seize and rescue operations, her infiltration of HYDRA graduated her to Black Ops.

Supporting Cast - 1944-1945

James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes: Steve's best friend since childhood, and one of the people that foremost inspired his decision to relentlessly pursue enlistment in World War II. Bucky joined Cap's Howling Commandos whenever war criminal Baron Zemo took control of the Nazi's rogue science division, HYDRA. Whenever Steve went under, Bucky perservered after the war before being killed in a final stand against Johann Schmidt, The Red Skull, in 1946.

Margaret 'Peggy' Carter: Steve's first love, a member of British intelligence drafted into the SSR under General Chester Phillips in the early 40's, just as a frail Steve Rogers would undergo the proceedure that transformed him into Captain America. After leading an impressively long career in the military, co-founding S.H.I.E.L.D. among other accomplishments, Peggy died in 2014, just before Steve could reunite with her in the present.

Timothy 'Dum Dum' Dugan: The second to accept Steve's offer to join The Howling Commandos. Known for his signature bowler hat, his pristinely kept mustache, and his unparalleled skills as a marksman.

Gabe Jones: An African-American soldier who, after leading his own battalion at the height of segregation, inspired Steve to ask him to join the Commandos for his valor. Jones proved himself to be more than capable of strategic prowess, helping Cap and the others to scout and pinpoint opportune locations to attack.

Jim Morita: A Japanese-American soldier who enlisted to end the conflict and free his family from their fate as prisoners of domestic internment camps. Rescued himself from one of HYDRA's facilities, Morita pledged to aid Captain America at all costs. He served as the group's pilot, expertly maneuvering through some of the worst land-to-air fire in history.

James M. 'Union Jack' Falsworth: A British veteran of the conflict during World War I, Falsworth took up arms once again after being inspired by his government to aid in relieving Nazi-occupied France. Hideously scarred from a grenade in battle, Union Jack partially gained his notoriety for wearing a mask emblazoned with the British flag into battle.

Spitfire/Jacqueline Falsworth: The daughter of James Falsworth, trained since a very young age in combat by her father. An explosives' expert that rivaled even Union Jack's penchant for demolitions, Spitfire earned her moniker for lighting an entire troop of Nazi stormtroopers ablaze in a single mission. She was engaged to Bucky Barnes during the war.

Enemies

The Red Skull/Johann Schmidt
Baron Helmut Zemo (Deceased)
Baron Heinrich Zemo (Deceased)
Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker
Viper/Ophelia Sarkissian
Count Vertigo/Werner Zytle
Kobra/Jeffrey Burr
Dr. Arnim Zola
Crossbones/Brock Rumlow
Dr. Faustus/Johann Fennhoff
Constrictor/Frank Payne
Per Degaton (1940's)
Master Man (1940's)

And finally, the most important member of Steve's supporting cast...

Nomad: Steve's dog, a German Shepherd rescue who Rogers found wandering the road between New York and Jersey. He likes bacon cheeseburgers.

S A M P L E   P O S T:

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Normandy, June 1944 - D-Day

The humidity of a hard-fought battle finally gives way to the smell of gunpowder. Corpses of both allies and enemies line the sands of the beach. Distant gunfire and bombs pop off, filling the air with a metaphorical symphony of cataclysm. For the soldiers that stand, the hope is that it's the cataclysm of German forces and their stranglehold on the area. For those that want to go home, see their families again, and put aside the ever-looming threat of a violent end in service of a greater sacrifice. But for the man standing on the hill, just overlooking the parameter that leads directly from Omaha Beach into the Nazi-occupied city of Bayeux, the hope is that his men come back with good - hell, any news about the subsequent strike against Erwin Rommell's forces. Commanding the 107th battalion, the figure clutching at the hunk of metal strapped to his wrist had ordered that his personal strike team go ahead without him as he personally dispatched six enemy tanks that were flanking every direction. And yet Captain America's primary concern, amongst the dead and barely living, was that he hadn't made a grave error in sending these hundreds of an overall twenty-four thousand man operation directly into Hitler's clutches.

"Come on, Buck.", he silently whispered. "Don't do this to us. Not today, not now."

Five agonizing minutes went by without so much as a shot, signaling a change of course in the battle. Placing his battle-worn helmet atop his leather cowl, the Captain had finally ran out of patience. Of the many still stationed to watch the coast, Rogers counted fifteen who weren't visibly damaged or cut apart by enemy minutes. He'd need more to truly be able to breach the Nazi's wall and get into Bayeux to find his Howling Commandos - or what was left of them, at least - before it was too late, but he didn't see waiting as a viable option anymore. The wounded were being treated to, as were the dead. His job on this front of the war was finished. Now it seemed that a rescue op was in order. In an effortless motion, he removed the shield clinging onto his gauntlet and placed it on the satchel attached to his back. For the men below, it was an awe-inspiring sight. Even with the colors muted from a bright red, white, and blue into a virtually maroon, gray, and black uniform, Captain America still looked uncharacteristically fictional among the very grim reality that surrounded him. Like something out of the pictures or the pulps had sprung forth into their reality.

"Corporal?"

Turning his head as an armed soldier approached his six.

"Tell the others to gear up and prep for a run. We're going after the missing."

The color from the soldier's face nearly cascaded out of existence. But over the past few months, the man had grown to know better than to question a direct order from the man who was almost assuredly going to drive his fist through Hitler's jaw.

"Consider it done, sir."

Emptying the magazine from his side-arm, Captain Rogers removed another clip and placed it into the chamber. He had already practically spent every ounce of his super-soldier serum given strength and agility to take out those tanks, and yet any hesitation to head back into battle never appeared in his mind. But even he knew that there was a chance that this could be their last stand. His enhancements gave him a clear edge, but he wasn't invincible - at least, literally speaking. He could never tell that to the men who stood even less of a chance surviving the through the day.

"We charge for the city walls in..."

A deafening explosion knocked several of the soldiers off of their feet, as Captain America found himself interrupted. He turned, shield raised, to the North and braced for something to hit. An enemy band of troops sent to scout for survivors. German planes looking to incinerate the shores. At this rate, Rogers was half-expecting some metal monstrosity straight out of the adventure books he read as a child to emerge, with big claws and a beam from outer space.

Instead, he lowered the shield upon hearing his own troops begin to cheer. Cap looked again to the North, watching as a German tower crumbled onto itself like a sandcastle on the very beach beneath his feet. Brick and dust shot out of the side of it followed by a gust of fire. Steve could hardly believe his eyes, but the grin on his face was no less visible.

"THEY DID IT!", one of them cried. "SON OF A GUN, THEY ACTUALLY KICKED THAT GERMAN'S TAIL!"

This was the sign that Bucky had told him they'd give upon victory. They were alive.

How many, of course, was yet to be determined. But they were alive.

And that meant that they were going to see another fight, bringing the War even closer to the finish line.

"At ease, soldiers!", Cap shouted, looking over his shoulder. "Lieutenant Barnes and his fleet have done the hard work. Now it's up to use to clean up the mess. So let's make sure that bastard Rommell never sees the light of day!"

The soldiers gave an even louder cheer, raising their guns as they ran forth to join Captain America while he marched ahead.

He felt a hand clasp onto his shoulder, forcing him to stop.

"Captain?"

Steve spun around, seeing a familiar face greet him. But he felt the pit of his stomach immediately turn, and the hairs of the back of his neck stand on end. The figure that stood infront of him was familiar, sure, but it was one that didn't belong. The face of a blonde, hazel-eyed woman that smiled back him. A person that had never been alive in the year 1944. And one that he would never see again after 2019.

"God..."

Cap removed his helmet, his eyes widened in fear.

"Sharon?"

Sharon Carter evaporated just as quickly as she appeared, torn apart yet again by Zemo's horrid machine. Steve reached out, realizing that he had failed to grab onto her a second time. His heart stopped, and he immediately became aware of his surroundings. He wasn't in 1944, and this wasn't D-Day. As he looked back at the soldiers heading into battle, they began to evaporate too. Leaving him alone with their ghosts.

"You shouldn't have let them die."

Sharon's voice was no longer tangible as human. It was all around him. In the skies above him, in the sands. Even the seas seemed to bellow out with disgust, as Steve dropped his shield into the mud. He dropped to his knees, closing his eyes and realizing that he was hyperventilating.

"You shouldn't have let me die."

It felt as if his asthma was back. Only a thousand times worse, as though his lungs were made of lead.

"But that's all that Captain America ever was, wasn't it?"

"No..."

Steve clutched at both sides of his head, Sharon's voice becoming illuminated even further by the sudden return of the ambience of a destructive conflict.

"A harbinger of death, painted up as a symbol."

The Captain fell onto his side, trying his best to block out the voice.

"Stop..."

But it wouldn't leave.

"Please... stop..."

It would never leave.

"You failed us all."

P O S T   C A T A L O G:

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N/A

[Master Bruce]

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

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TERRANCE 'TERRY' MCGINNIS ♦ PERSONAL ASSISTANT ♦ GOTHAM CITY, NJ ♦ WAYNE-SIONIS

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

<sub>"Somebody had to do something. And you sure weren't about to!"
- Terry McGinnis to Bruce Wayne</sub>

Obviously, this isn't a character that originated with me. @Lord Wraith did all of the heavy lifting to establish the blend of both the contemporary Batman mythos and the canon of Batman Beyond, resulting in a version where Terry can operate as Batman in a modern Gotham City that hasn't become a Blade Runner-esque futurescape. So the changes to the regular Batman canon should be apparent - my goal is basically to take the baton and run with it, seeing as I've had conversations with Wraith about the basic philosophies of what made Batman Beyond interesting (so don't expect a Riddler Beyond or similar gimmick concepts). We both seem to agree that Terry should be the focus, not Bruce.

Wraith provided me with alot of story content that he was going to do himself, but has no interest in pursuing any further, so I'm going to do what I can to blend what he had in mind with my own ideas since I like alot of what he came up with. Beyond that (no pun intended), I want to really flesh out the Gotham of the past and the Gotham of the present, since The Batman's been around since the 1960's and holds a metric slag-ton of history that influences Terry's life as the heir to the cowl.

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:

The overall crux of Batman Beyond, as I've revisited the show, is that as Terry grew into the mantle of Batman, he became further away from what Bruce Wayne was whenever he was active. The best way to describe his personality is that Terry evolved from the best parts of each Robin to create a new character, someone who saw things like justice and heroism in a more optimistic light than his predecessor while retaining the rough edges that would make someone The Dark Knight. My plan isn't to deviate from this arc, but to take it even further. Right now, Terry's operating very much in the shadow of The Bat, but I want him to eventually own the role almost independently of Bruce and set the course for his own destiny. Which I recognize is a mammoth task when Bruce Wayne has been the originator from day one of his creation, but I want to make it clear that the old Batman's days are over rather than lean on Terry being an extension of one man's legacy.

Especially since the canon of the DCAU went so far in the opposite direction that they eventually retconned Terry into Bruce's biological... well, let's not get into it. Best to ignore the mistakes of the past, right?

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

Supporting Cast - Established By Wraith

Bruce Wayne - the original Batman, Terry's mentor, who retired in 1995 after a life-altering final mission. Wayne is actually 80 years old, but appears closer 60 due to a Lazarus Pit encounter.
Ace - the loyal guard dog of Bruce Wayne, and sometimes ally to Terry as Batman in the field.
Melanie Walker - Terry's current girlfriend, formerly the villainess 'Ten' of The Royal Flush Gang.
Mary McGinnis - Terry's mother, legal guardian, and widow to Terry's father, Warren.
Matthew McGinnis - Terry's younger brother, who lives only to annoy his older brother.
Maxine 'Max' Gibson - Terry's lone confidant in his secret life, a genius level hacker.
Carrie Kelly - Max's girlfriend and one of Terry's classmates at Hamilton Hill High.
Dana Tan - Terry's longtime girlfriend, recently turned ex.
Chelsea Cunningham - Terry and Dana's more 'out there' friend, prone to attracting attention for her rebellious behavior.
Nelson Nash - Terry's rival and frequent social antagonist, arrogant and spoiled rich.
Commissioner James Gordon - Current head of the GCPD, unaffiliated with The Batman past or present.*

^{*Established by @IceHeart}

Antagonists - Established By Wraith

Roman Sionis/The Black Mask
Jervis Tetch/The Mad Hatter
Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin
Lonnie Lachin/MoneySpider
Deever And Dumfree Tweed/Tweedledee And Tweedledum
Real Name Unknown/The Tally Man
Warren White
The Mutant Gang
The Jokerz
The Sons Of Batman

Supporting Characters - Established By Me
TBD

Antagonists - Established By Me
TBD

Deceased Characters
The Joker
Catwoman/Selina Kyle
Alfred Pennyworth
Lucius Fox
The Riddler/Edward Nigma
Ra's Al Ghul, The Demon's Head
Two-Face/Harvey Dent
The Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane
Mr. Freeze/Victor Fries
Arnold Wesker/The Ventriloquist
The Phantasm/Andrea Beaumont

S A M P L E P O S T:

...The More They Stay The Same

"Nine-four-zero! I repeat, nine-four zero! Officers in need of assistance!"

The crackle of the damaged communications frequency filled Detective Samuel Bradley with a combination of determination and dread. The latter of which seemed to overtake him as he heard the vicious, child-like cackling from outside his partner's overturned squad-car. Bradley looked to his left to see the driver, Lieutenant Murakami, hanging upside down from his seat and bleeding from the temple. He was only unconscious, mercifully, but in desperate need of medical attention. Bradley unhooked his seat belt and positioned himself to fall on his back to lessen the impact, but he could feel a considerable pain in his right shoulder. A fracture, maybe, but nothing broken... yet.

"Screw it,", Sam whispered to himself, unhooking his fellow officer. "I don't know if you can hear me, Lieutenant, but try and remain still. We're in a bad spot, and we're not out of the fire yet."

The middle aged, graying Detective sneered as he heard the distinct sound of motorcycle engines racing past, circling their position. The cackling grew into high-pitched fits of laughter echoing out from the throats of a group obviously much younger than either of the two seasoned GCPD officers. Drawing his side-arm with the shoulder that hadn't taken the brunt of the car's crash, Bradley pulled his partner towards the middle of the car's hood to draw him out of the line of fire, on the off chance they were packing heat, and began kicking at his own door to loosen it.

"This isn't my first rodeo.", Bradley assured him. "And definitely not my first clowns."

As the door eventually creaked open, revealing itself to have unlatched during the crash. Bradley tried to think of the events that transpired just moments before, in a vain hope to ascertain a motive behind their attack. They were on Park Row Avenue, investigating the lead in a triple homicide. The suspect had left behind traces of his hair fibers in the midst of a victim's struggle. A man in his early 30's with a laundry list of priors, and if he wasn't the suspect, he sure as hell knew who was. As Bradley's partner turned onto 9th street, Sam had heard a faint noise - like a line being snapped, or more likely, a tripwire - before the side of their car was engulfed in a loud explosion and sent airbourne.

This wasn't the work of their perp, obviously. This was a trap set up for a distinct reason: random violence, seeing who would trip the explosives first. It was the M.O. of a group of known terrorists that Bradley had come across before, but never so directly. And as he slowly began to crawl his way out of the car, he was beginning to catch glimpses of their faces. Their smiling, greasepaint smeared faces that looked upon the scene with hungry eyes. A group of late teens to twenty-somethings who had taken up the torch of a madman from Gotham's past. Bradley could hardly hide his disgust as one of them sliced the blade of a machete into the pavement, creating sparks.

Jokerz.

"Well, well, well!", one of them jovially announced. "Looks like we caught ourselves a couple of piggies, kids! Two little piggies, escaped from the farm!"

The others laughed and began to mimick an "oink" sound as Bradley made himself visible, his side-arm's safety visibly turned off. The group of clowns, each done up in elaborate and particularly gruesome fashion, each flashed an even wider grin, evidently seeing the Detective as fresh meat ready for tenderizing.

"What do you say, dregs, should we cut him up? I say we cut him up!", a female member of the gang cooed. "I'm in the mood for some bacon. Maybe some sausages. Oooh, the possibilities!"

Bradley raised his gun, hiding any visible fear even as the group's cycles simultaneously began to slow to a stop. One of them was wielding a pair of large chains, swinging it above his head. Another, the machete clown, was outfitted to the teeth - quite literally, as he bit down on the blade of a knife fixed between his jaw - with all manner of sharp objects affixed to his spiked jacket. The woman held a spiked mallet, fashioned together from crude scraps of metal, displaying her vivid pink and blue shirt that read "Daddy's Little Monster". And flanking the other side of the Detective were a pair of wirey twins, their makeup fashioned off of the Chinese yin and yang symbols while combined with stark green tipped hair and crimson coated smiles.

"Stop where you are, freaks.", Bradley coldly commanded. "You've had your fun. Turn back now and I won't have to use this."

The chain-wielding clown chuckled, stepping off of his bike and revealing a large stature.

"On the contrary, old man. We insist."

Swinging his chains high into the air, the clown slammed the cold metal into Bradley's gut before he could pull the trigger, knocking him down and causing him to drop the fire-arm. The twins stepped infront of it, unsheathing a pair of katanas that had been retroactively graffitied with HA-HA symbols and what looked to be dried blood. Remaining on the ground, the Detective refused to give them the benefit of seeing him so much as worry. His concerns were more directed for his partner, who he could hear groaning inside the car.

"Whoopsie! Looks like the piggy lost his toy.", Machete Clown replied. "You gonna squeal for us to get it back? Huh? Are ya?"

The group erupted in laughter as Chain Clown grabbed Bradley by the lapel of his overcoat.

"Oh, I'm sure we'll find ways to make him squeal. But I want to do it slowly. Make him work for it. Shed a little of the good stuff."

The degenerate licked his lips as Machete Clown brought out an excessively large, freshly sharpened bowie knife to go with his other weapon. Bradley held his breath for a moment, seemingly trying to keep himself calm. It was only a few seconds later when this proved to be a ruse, as the Detective spat directly in the face of Chain Clown.

"Go to hell."

Machete Clown squealed in delight as Chain Clown angrily threw the Detective to him, like a game of hot potato.

"HA! Nicely done, oh, nicely done! Looks like you've got some fight in you, piggy."

Holding the bowie knife to Bradley's face, the clown's rank breath was the first thing to genuinely elicit a reaction from the Detective. Machete Clown's yellowed teeth were directly in Bradley's line of sight as he tightened his grip on the handle.

"Makes you all the more ripe for roasting."

Raising his bowie knife in the air, Machete Clown got the Detective to close his eyes, resigning himself to whatever horrible fate that the gang was waiting to give him. But as he began to fear the worst, the entire group - including Bradley - heard a distant whizzing noise. The noise grew louder as the seconds went by, before a small shadow could be seen launching directly for Machete Clown's knife. With a loud clang, the objects smashed together, creating a large enough spark to send Machete Clown stumbling backwards in surprise.

The bowie knife dropped, embedded into the pavement by something made of a much stronger metal. A red and black circular object, bladed and sporting an all-too-familiar symbol. Bradley barely got a glimpse of it before realizing just what was happening: they were getting their back-up afterall. But it wasn't GCPD.

"Oh, shit! We got..."

"Company? I'll say."

A much larger shadow descended upon them, gliding into view at a speed that none of them could comprehend. Before anyone could make sense of what was happening, the shadow slammed directly into Machete Clown and knocked him back with a force that sent him flying into a nearby shop window. The figure landed, firmly placing himself between the Detective and The Jokerz without a moment's hesitation.

"You dregs really know how to spoil someone's night, you know that?"

The tone was harsh, laced with a combination of sarcasm and malice. The Jokerz each took a step back with widened eyes as the horns of the cowl became visible, aswell as the neon red glow of the symbol adored across the figure's chest. Detective Bradley could only see him from behind, but the silhouette was very - if not painfully - familiar. It was one of the only remaining figures in Gotham that still caused creeps like The Jokerz to hesitate for even a moment.

"Slag this! I wanted a piggy! I didn't sign up to tangle with no freakin' Bat!"

The Batman smirked as another batarang appeared from his outstretched gauntlet. Most of The Jokerz looked at eachother, quizzically, to see if they were willing to take on the obviously more experienced hero. But the twins seemed unfazed, stepping forward with their katanas raised in unison. Batman narrowed his eyes, waiting for them to make the first move.

"Get out of here before you get yourself hurt."

Bradley didn't know if it was a command meant for him or The Jokerz, but he didn't want to wait around and find out. Rushing himself back to the car, the Detective rolled under the opened passenger door, choosing to let what was about to play out begin to play out for itself. Just as he slipped away from view, he could see The Twin Clowns rushing Batman on the attack.

The vigilante tossed the batarang high into the air, raising up his gauntlet to clash with the first katana that sliced towards him. The second swung on approach, but Batman managed to duck, landing a brutal uppercut that sent the second Twin into the air and colliding with his own bike. The Jokerz fixated their gaze on the scene as the first Twin suffered a series of roundhouse kicks that caused his katana arm to raise above his head, setting it up for the batarang that had been tossed as it circled back around, embedding it into the clown's wrist.

With a spinning kick, Batman nailed Twin Clown directly across the face and sent him spiraling to the ground, opening himself up to attack from the other Jokerz. Which they quickly decided they were going to attempt, despite the odds. Chain Clown was the first to attack, having pulled himself from the broken glass of the shop window with a thirst for revenge. Throwing his chain directly towards Batman, he was surprised to see The Dark Knight deliberately allow his arm to be ensnared by the weapon. What was even more surprising was that no sooner than when Batman took a step forward, he was airborne, propelled by rockets beneath his boots. The chain connected to Batman's forearm snapped taut and clotheslined Chain Clown hard in the throat, causing him to drop immediately.

Batman landed ontop of him, sending a direct stomp onto his skull to keep him momentarily incapacitated. Machete Clown and Mallet Clown looked at eachother in fright as The Dark Knight faintly smiled back at them, sardonically using a come hither motion.

"You know, I have a history with dispatching clowns. You might even call it a hobby."

Machete Clown rushed forward, slicing at Batman like a wild animal. The vigilante sidestepped and leaped over each attack, somersaulting over Machete Clown and grabbing him by the shoulders, flipping him onto his back. Landing directly infront of Mallet Clown, who made no attempt to flee, Batman caught the spiked mallet with his palm, displaying the strength of the servos wired into his suit.

"So why the hell that you twips would ever, and I mean ever want to get into this line of work is beyond me."

Ripping the mallet from the clown's grasp, Batman tossed it and caught an attempted punch, spinning the woman around and forcing her into an armlock.

"It's like almost like you want this."

"Funny. We could almost say the same about you."

Before The Dark Knight could react, one of the Twin Clowns smacked him on the spine with an electric buzzer, sending hundreds if not thousands of volts of electricity coursing through Batman's system. Calling out in pain, Batman dropped to one knee and was forced to let the Mallet Clown go, who promptly ran for her tossed weapon. Picking himself up, slightly dazed, Batman found himself taking a katana hit across the chest, severing part of the Batsuit's outer layer to reveal a glimpse of circuitry beneath.

"I mean, you think you're what, a savior? A protector of these lousy sacks of meat?"

Going in for another slice, Twin Clown watched as Batman wasted no time in meeting his attack with a direct right hook. Then a left, then another right, before leaping into the air and drop kicking him far enough away to cause some considerable damage. Batman sneered, running his hand along the damage to his suit.

"Something like that."

As Mallet Clown approached from behind, quietly raising her weapon high into the air, Batman, without even looking, reached back and shot a minature taser directly into the woman's chest, causing her to spasm before dropping to the pavement aswell, with steam rising off the mallet.

Machete Clown and Chain Clown were down for the count, as were the first Twin and Mallet Clown. All that remained was the slightly out-of-it second Twin, whom Batman spotted trying to lurch towards his bike. Outstretching his arms, allowing crimson bat-like wings to unfold and fall to his sides, Batman rocketed into the air and slammed both knees into the clown's back, causing him to fly into a nearby garbage bin.

Detective Bradley kicked the passenger door back open, his partner slung over his shoulder, and watched as Batman landed amongst a slew of unconscious bodies. Reaching into the unconscious Lieutenant's holster, Bradley drew his weapon and aimed it directly at the viglante.

"GCPD! Freeze!"

Batman turned, slightly surprised as Bradley sternly eyed him.

"You're wanted for questioning, Bat. Get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head."

Motioning to the unconscious clowns, Batman seemed more annoyed at the threat than anything.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Do I look like I'm playing games?!", Bradley countered. "Wearing that mask and beating the hell out of perps doesn't make you any less of a criminal than they are!"

Batman sneered. "Right."

Before Bradley could fire a warning shot, Batman outstretched his wings once again and launched himself back into the Gotham night air. Just before he disappeared out of view, Bradley could hear the vigilante call to him from the skies with one last retort.

"You're welcome, by the way."

Frustrated, the Detective lowered his weapon, knowing that it wouldn't do any good to try and open fire. The kid was already gone, anyway. Placing the gun back into his own holster as he gently lowered his partner onto the street, Bradley's eyes remained fixated on the sky. The Batman had entirely vanished from view. He could hear sirens in the distance, signaling that back-up had finally arrived - about ten minutes late, all things considered.

The Detective sighed to himself.

Unfortunately for him, it was beginning to feel like old times.

"The more things change..."

[Master Bruce]

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

B R U C E W A Y N E

---

^{_{P H I L A N T H R O P I S T ♦ G O T H A M C I T Y , N E W J E R S E Y ♦ W A Y N E I N T E R N A T I O N A L}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

---

"Never again."

For over half a century, Gotham City had been protected from the forces of evil by an unseen guardian. Considered an urban myth whispered among a superstitious and cowardly criminal lot, those who had been saved by him and those who had been unfortunate enough to earn his wrath knew him only as The Batman. And as the times and traditions of Gotham's citizens changed, he remained the one true constant, striking terror into criminal factions of all creeds and urban terrorists that sought to challenge him through their own bizarre, inspired gimmicks. But with the aid of Commissioner James Gordon, his trusted and faithful servant Alfred, his one-time partner Robin, The Boy Wonder, and the use of his civilian identity as billionaire Bruce Wayne, The Batman crusaded against evil successfully for many years - until one fateful night in 1986 changed everything.

Becoming hardened, grim and vicious, The Dark Knight Detective began to forgo the shadows and legitimately terrorize evildoers, leaving them maimed, broken, and scarred beyond repair. Some terrible evil had been committed against him, and those who knew him best were unable to comprehend how Gotham's greatest hero could have fallen so far. It wasn't until many years later, in a final fight against arguably his greatest foe, The Joker, that something finally shattered The Caped Crusader's restless spirit. Bruce Wayne realized that he'd come too close to the edge for comfort - or worse, that he may have even descended into the abyss without even realizing it. And so he made a choice.

Retiring the cape and cowl, destroying the many weapons, gadgets, suits and vehicles that he'd used to operate as a vigilante, and going so far as to abandon Stately Wayne Manor and block off the fabled Batcave beneath, Wayne devoted himself to his philanthropic and financial efforts entirely. One way or another, The Batman was dead. And as soon as his absence became noticed, his rogue's gallery seemed to slowly dissipate, either dying out due to age, unfortunate circumstances, or retiring far away from Gotham to live in peace, their war against the masked vigilante having ended. With only a few remaining in Arkham and no further escapes reported, Gotham seemed to settle into a period of peace, seemingly affirming that The Batman's war on crime had escalated the very evil he sought to vanquish and that the city was better off without him.

But while Batman's abscence may have left Gotham with eased tensions, they eventually began to boil over once again with a dramatic rise in street crime. With Commissioner Gordon having left the GCPD years earlier, a new civil servant had to rise up and challenge this escalating violence - and to everyone's surprise, the one to answer the call would be Harvey Dent. The one-time criminal known as Two-Face, Dent had been given a clean bill of health and returned to civilian life shortly after his masked enemy retired. Having managed to amass a fortune that rivaled Bruce Wayne's own in the years following, Dent's charm and ambition managed to win him back the public's trust - aswell as an eventual election for Mayor of Gotham City.

In a move that could only be seen as suspicious soon after taking office, one of Dent's first acts as Mayor was to erect a massive wall, blocking off the crime-ridden East End of Gotham City from the more fortunate West End, where the rich were accommodated while the poor were left to fend for themselves against common criminals and street gangs. Despite the best efforts of Commissioner Renee Montoya and the GCPD, whose members were beginning to align with Dent's promise of a Gotham where good and evil could be easily separated, The Blackgate Wall eventually stood as either an achievement in forceful dominion over crime or a testament to a city too far gone to be saved. Montoya eventually quit the force in disgust, leading the way for the ruthless Lyle Bolton to succeed her. But regardless of who was running the police, the massive blockade proved to be effective at preventing GCPD from interfering with what transpired in what was then dubbed "Old Gotham", with even fewer citizens of "New Gotham" willing to lend a hand. While some initially heeded the legend of The Batman as an example to try and take back their streets, those that fought back were soon eliminated by a vicious gang of masked criminals calling themselves The Disciples Of Order.

In the year 2020, all hope seems lost. Bruce Wayne is 81 years old, forced into a pending retirement as CEO of Wayne Enterprises. The once gallivanting socialite has turned into a bitter old hermit, never seen among the public between his hours at the office and the many nights spent alone on the top floor of Wayne Tower, overlooking the city he once would have given his life for - wishing desperately to be able to defend it once again, but physically and mentally unable to return to the mantle of The Bat. In his mind, he is poised to die a failure, leaving behind a Gotham City torn apart by the very sort of criminal that murdered his parents.

It is only until a mysterious figure treads the soiled ground where a ghostly Wayne Manor now stands and begins digging, reaching the partially collapsed ruins of The Batcave beneath with the intent to steal a very important book - The Journal Of Alfred J. Pennyworth - that the quest for Gotham's salvation begins again. Someone out there knows Gotham's biggest secret, and they're determined to continue the fight whether Bruce Wayne allows it or not.

The Batman is dead.

Long live The Batman.

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:

---

This concept is the most ambitious endeavor I've ever attempted with the character. It's not so much about one single narrative - with the exception of Bruce Wayne and the new Batman's perspectives, since they're the protagonists - as it is the biggest statement I have about the myth and legacy of Batman and how that can affect a Gotham City which has seemingly lost it's hope. When Bruce began as a vigilante, he was trying to save a corrupt version of the city. This is the antithesis, where the war was seemingly won, but the corruption naturally took back over after the age of the costumed supervillain passed. There's been no one there to stop it - until now.

I've taken alot of inspiration from notable Elseworlds stories, including The Dark Knight Returns, Year 100, Brotherhood Of The Bat, The Batman of Bethlehem, White Knight, Arkham City, a very tiny bit of Batman Beyond, and the general history of the character in comics, films, television, games, and everything in between. I've also taken some inspiration from stuff like HBO's Watchmen, Logan, Netflix's Daredevil, and the current political climate of The United States to really try and tell a story with some meat to it. It's going to be something very personal that I hope can be wholly mine and yet honor everything that Batman is and has been for the last 81 years.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

---

Gotham is home to many characters that operate within the new status quo of a city quite literally divided. Very few of the original rogues gallery remain, and if they do, they're far too diminished to make any trouble now. But there are quite a few recognizable names that still appear within the city that will make up the supporting cast of Bruce Wayne and the as-of-yet-unidentified Caped Crusader.

Mayor Dent

Once the dashing and crusading District Attorney of Gotham City, Harvey Dent's campaign against the likes of mobsters Salvatore Maroni and Rupert Thorne resulted in a face full of acid that helped split his sanity into two distinct personalities. Becoming Two-Face, the criminal mastermind modeled himself after the gangsters that had ruined his life, taking out the competition in a bloody war for Gotham's streets. Giving up his own sense of free will, he relied solely on defaced silver dollar to decide the outcome of his crimes - which proved to be his ultimate undoing, when Batman used this weakness against him in their final battle, destroying the coin and rendering Two-Face unable to act. Surrendering to authorities, Dent was committed to Arkham and underwent intense therapeutic sessions for nearly twenty years. But against all odds, Two-Face was eventually purged, and Harvey's immense sense of guilt for his many crimes eventually convinced the board of directors that he was sane enough to be released. With Batman having disappeared, Dent saw the city rise up from the chaos only to fall again. Determined to prove that his legacy as a crusader for justice would outlive his legacy as Two-Face, Dent used his knowledge as a lawyer to craft a masterful Mayoral campaign, promising to separate the good people of Gotham from the criminal underworld that sought to bring the city to ruin. A promise he unfortunately made good upon with the Blackgate Wall, bringing tensions to the forefront in a way that he either never expected or willfully ignores, having become an elitist who would prefer to rebuild part of Gotham than to cure the whole of it.

Selina Kyle

Bruce Wayne's ex-wife, formerly the master thief known as The Catwoman. While she remained loyal at his side for over a decade as he waged his neverending war on crime, often joining him in the pursuit of criminals with her own thrill-seeking flair, Selina eventually realized that her husband's obsession with operating as Batman was only going to end in tragedy - a premonition that would come about rather cruelly. When a clash between Batman and The Joker indirectly led to the miscarriage of Bruce and Selina's would-be child, the pain of that loss solidified into an irreconcilable split between them, leaving The Dark Knight to walk a much lonelier path than he had ever before. Selina has been globe-trotting for the better part of two decades, putting as much space between her and Bruce as possible. Whether she'll ever really return is anyone's guess.

Timothy Drake

A brilliant engineer that helped to reshape the once-decrepit Arkham Asylum into The Arkham Institute in the 21st century, Tim's history with The Batman is complex as it is dormant. As boy, he was rescued by the vigilante firsthand during a massive fire caused by the villain Firefly, creating a lifelong obsession and dedication to justice that might not have otherwise existed. Though he's largely put his faith in The Caped Crusader behind him following the disappearance of Batman and Gotham's restructuring under Mayor Dent, Drake was still able to piece together a secret that has remained hidden for decades - that beneath the cowl, at one time, was the now elderly billionaire Bruce Wayne.

James Gordon

The sole remaining ally that Bruce didn't manage to drive away in all his years as The Dark Knight, Gordon is now in the twilight of his life, having long since retired from his role as Gotham's storied Police Commissioner. Living well at the age of 96 years old, despite a few close calls, he acts as an unofficial consultant for the GCPD, keeping the discretion of the few good officers who look towards him for guidance when put against the overt corruption of the new Commissioner, Lyle Bolton. Wayne occasionally visits Gordon in times of crisis, hoping that the presence of his old friend can quell any temptation that might remain to once again act outside the law.

Damian Xu'ffasch

The leader of The Guild Of Shadows, a group of followers in the methods of the original League Of Shadows, before it was tainted by bloodshed to become The League Of Assassins under Damian's grandfather, Ra's al Ghul. Damian is the child of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, conceived during a brief period in which The Dark Knight considered succeeding Ra's as Son Of The Demon. It was only when Talia realized Bruce could never truly part with his mission to protect Gotham that she falsified a miscarriage, a fact that would later create a permanent rift between Talia and her beloved. Surprisingly loyal to The Batman's code of ethics, it would appear, Damian has nevertheless been unable to reach his father and form a legitimate bond.

Barbara Gordon

Having briefly acted as the vigilante Batgirl, fighting alongside Batman after the departure of Robin and disappearance of Catwoman, Barbara eventually gave up the life of a crimefighter to entertain a career in law enforcement. But unlike her father, Barbara could recognize the cracks in the system that were allowing repeat offenders to terrorize Gotham's streets despite Batman and the GCPD's best efforts. And so she eventually became disillusioned with both the badge and the Bat, opting to run for local office against her corrupt colleagues. Now serving her second term as District Attorney of Gotham City, her days are spent torn between a tireless legal effort against Mayor Dent's growing authority and her ailing father, who she fears isn't long for this world. She was made aware of Batman's dual identity as Bruce Wayne, and has chosen to remain silent out of respect for her father's admiration of him - but having witnessed the vigilante's brutal methods up close, she's far from a fan.

Duke Thomas

Currently a member of the Gotham City Police Department, Duke's willpower is second to none after being forged by tragedy. Witnessing his parents succumb to a debilitating strain of Joker Toxin as a teenager, Duke was saved by Batman from the clown's wrath and forever changed, determined to become The Dark Knight's partner after the original Robin had long since abandoned his post to become the vigilante Nightwing. But despite Duke's best efforts, he was rebuffed by the increasingly hostile Batman, leading him to pursue a more legitimate path following the retirement of Commissioner James Gordon. He now serves as a partner in the Major Crimes Unit to Lieutenant Jason Bard, pursuing a mentality that Gotham's streets need to be taken back by the people Batman inspired.

Lucille 'Lucy' Quinzell - Hyena

Raised by a couple of loving foster parents, Lucy Quinzell discovered the truth about her bloodline after she was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 14 - that in reality, she had been the daughter of The Joker and Harley Quinn. Learning that her biological mother had been killed in 1992 during a scuffle between her father and his hated enemy, The Batman, Lucy became consumed with the idea that the masked vigilante had murdered her mother and began to grow resentful of a city that seemed to worship him while demonizing her father. Leaning into her psychosis and turning her delusions into violent behavior, Lucy eventually used a straight razor to kill her 'false' family - including her adoptive father, adoptive mother, and adoptive brother - before disappearing for a number of years. Resurfacing as the clown-themed villainess Hyena, Lucy sought to bring chaos bring to a city that was desperately seeking order. Now, she prepares to commit a grand act of terrorism that will unravel Mayor Dent's work to keep the peace in New Gotham, amassing a group of loyalists that she refers to as 'The Mistahs' to help her enact vengeance in the name of her true parents.

Nathaniel Cobblepot

Born from the affair of the infamous crimelord and an unnamed cocktail waitress working at The Iceberg Lounge, Nathaniel Cobblepot grew up far away from Gotham City in what was considered The Penguin's only true act of compassion. Receiving only the best education that the world abroad had to offer, Nathaniel grew up to become a spoiled, arrogant playboy that shunned his father's legacy whenever possible, seeing Oswald Cobblepot as a failure who turned to petty crime after being too weak to take back his family's fortune through legitimate means. A cunning businessman in his own right, Nathaniel invested in several fortune 500 companies and became a billionaire in his own right. But the all-too-familiar lure of criminal pursuits eventually drove Nathaniel down his father's path, turning him into a leading seller on the Black Market of weapons and narcotics. A chance to return to Gotham eventually came in an invitation from none other than Harvey Dent, who sought an adviser in an upcoming Mayoral race. Dent had long respected The Penguin's business tactics, but despised the man himself, figuring that his son would be a suitable replacement. Tempted by the chance to fully humiliate his father by doing what he never could, Nathaniel made the arrangements and now sits on a throne of misery and wealth as the new Penguin.

Arthur Isley

When Poison Ivy wished to sire a daughter that wasn't born of her experiments with plant mutations, she found the perfect unwitting host in the form of Edward Nigma, better known as The Riddler. Convincing him to cooperate through her pheromones, Pamela Isley soon gave birth to the disappointment of her life - a son, not a daughter. Rejecting him almost immediately, declaring that man had spurned both her and the natural resources of the world, Ivy placed the baby in the care of her one-time ally, Catwoman. Burdened with a child of her own due to be born with her husband, Bruce Wayne, Selina and Alfred Pennyworth arranged for the child - whom they named Arthur, after the inventor of the crossword puzzle as a means of giving Edward some part in the boy's legacy - to be raised by Leslie Thompkins. Ever the kindly caretaker, Leslie taught Arthur the nature of compassion and healing before she eventually passed away, leaving Arthur to succeed her in operating Gotham's only health clinic for the less fortunate. Turning the struggling clinic into an overnight success as he came of age, Arthur eventually opened the Leslie Thompkins Memorial Hospital and gave the good people of Gotham a proper medical facility to rely on. With this achievement, Arthur sought to expand his commitment to Gotham by campaigning for a seat at the board of directors' table of Wayne International, noting Leslie's close connection to the Wayne family. There's only been one obstacle standing in his way: CEO Bruce Wayne, who cynically suspects criminal intent from Arthur due to his biological parentage being that of two of Batman's greatest enemies. After years of trying to convince the old man that he's not out to become either his father or his mother, Arthur eventually won his place on the board and regularly tries to earn Wayne's respect - almost predictably, to no avail.

The Disciples Of Order

Originally started by a gathering of the last remaining remnants of The Red Hood Gang, The False-Face Society, The Royal Flush Gang, and other followers of Gotham's most notorious super-criminals, the borderline cultist group The Disciples Of Order came into true prominence with the election of Harvey Dent, with the group adopting a Two-Face themed mantra of doling out a vicious perversion of justice in the name of balancing out Gotham's 'natural order' of criminal conduct. Each member is anonymous, ranging from those living in poverty to the very top of the elite, but their mission is clear: with the flip of a coin, they will decide the fate of each and every individual citizen of Gotham City. Good heads, the victim will be left alive. Bad heads, and they'll be rendered nothing but a memory. Only fate can spare those from The Disciples' wrath, and fate has seemingly favored death, as the body count of the fringe group of terrorists begins rising with each passing day.

And finally...

The Batman

In response to a tragic event from their past, a mysterious figure that is much more physically able than Bruce Wayne to carry out the Dark Knight's war against crime will soon emerge to try and quell escalating tensions between the citizens of "Old Gotham" and "New Gotham". Virtually nothing is known about this new Batman, other than the fact that in order to acquire all that he has to pursue his crusade against Mayor Dent and the escalating class war that threatens Gotham, he's at least aware that the original Batman was Bruce Wayne - aswell as many other crucial secrets related to Gotham's history that would be able to lead one towards the path of succeeding The Caped Crusader. Bruce Wayne is personally unaware of who the new Batman is, and in his paranoia, will likely begin efforts to try and deduce his identity in the event that the copycat ends up falling short of the model that inspired him - even if his appearance may yet rekindle hope in the people of Gotham that their masked savior hasn't abandoned them.

The Once Deadly... And The Dead
Many of Batman's original rogues gallery were either scared off by their arch-nemesis' newly gruesome approach to striking fear into the hearts of his enemies, forced into retirement by debilitating circumstances, or simply died off due to a varying number of causes. Whatever the case may be, their names are almost as mythic as Batman's own, even now existing as whispers within the halls of The Arkham Institute from the mouths of those who still remember. They are...

The Joker

Status unknown. Many believe he was killed by The Batman in their climatic battle, resulting in the latter's retirement for crossing such a sacred line. But there are those that believe there's more to the story - some are even determined to prove it, believing that when the opportunity for the perfect punchline to Gotham's chaotic state arises, The Clown Prince of Crime will re-emerge to deliver it.

The Penguin

Retired. Formerly the reigning crime boss of Gotham following the deaths of Carmine Falcone, Sal Maroni, and any other would-be criminal families, Oswald Cobblepot eventually lost control of his thriving empire thanks to the efforts of Batman's relentless pursuit to put him away in Blackgate. Though The Dark Knight was never entirely successful in seeing Cobblepot serve a sentence in prison, karma eventually caught up to the aging gangster when a heart attack and stroke rendered him a complete invalid. Now pushing 87, Cobblepot lives an undignified existence as a resident of a Coast City nursing home, put there by the cunning and entirely spiteful inheritor of his vast fortune - his son, Nathaniel.

The Riddler

Retired. A permanent resident of The Arkham Institute, Edward Nigma's obsession with proving his intellectual superiority over every citizen of Gotham, particularly The Batman, eventually caused him to have a nervous breakdown that he never entirely recovered from. In a tryst with Poison Ivy, controlled by her mind-altering pheromones, Edward produced a son that he's too hopelessly insane to even recognize at this point. Considered harmless, despite his unending compulsion to speak entirely in brainteasers, Edward lives within a waking nightmare of thoughts that can no longer escape his fractured mind as the other residents of Arkham relentlessly mock the over-the-hill ex-criminal's continued delusions of grandier.

Mr. Freeze

Reformed. One of the few success stories to come out of the era of costumed criminals and crusaders, Victor Fries' cold heart eventually thawed when Bruce Wayne, in an astonishing act of compassion, utilized his vast resources to finally cure Victor's beloved wife, Nora. With his motivation for criminal conduct erased, the former cryogeneticist walked away from a life fueled by hatred and pain in an effort to reunite with Nora. Giving himself over to the police almost immediately, Fries was given a light sentence in exchange for co-operating with the GCPD in building a state-of-the-art series of cryogenic chambers that would preserve bodies more efficiently than the standard methods of preservation, leading to earlier deductions in murder cases and pushing forensic technology ahead by several years. With his time spent serving justice, Victor eventually even pulled off a miracle himself by curing his body of the need to exist only within zero temperatures. He now lives a normal, happier life with Nora and their new children, only occasionally called upon to consult for new technologies developed by Wayne International.

Killer Croc

Reformed. Waylon Jones holds the distinct honor of being Batman's only foe to transition from ruthless criminal brute to the world of celebrity stardom. After coming to the conclusion that he had spent over half of his life either incarcerated or in Arkham Asylum, Jones went about another path that subsided his animalistic nature and tried his hand at underground boxing. Being careful not to cross the line into unlawful territory, the former "Killer Croc" was sought out by a talent agency to endorse a line of skin-care products. Despite the inherent irony, Jones took a chance and became a beloved figure of the media once he published his first novel, I Threw A Rock At Him: The Waylon Jones Story, telling his side of things in regards to his many clashes with the GCPD and The Dark Knight. Having acted in television, produced an album, and even started his own charity for people with disfigurements, Jones now enjoys his life as the narrator to the popular reality television series Legends Of The Dark Knight, a program devoted to speculating the identity of The Caped Crusader.

Residents Of The Arkham Institute

Julian Day
Thomas Elliot
Hugo Strange
Drury Walker
Jervis Tetch
Arnold Wesker

The Dead

Poison Ivy
1966-1997. Transmutated.

Bane
1965-2012. Overdose.

Ra's Al Ghul
????-2005. Natural Causes.

The Scarecrow
1941-2008. Heart Attack.

Harley Quinn
1952-1992. Murdered.

Deadshot
1950-2016. Suicide.

Firefly
1952-2012. Asphyxiation.

Victor Zsasz
1972-2005. Shivved.

P O S T C A T A L O G:

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THE DARK KNIGHT LIVES

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1. And I Heard, As It Were, The Voice Of Thunder

[Master Bruce]

The Narrows, 2005.

A traumatized boy is escorted out of his home by police as two bodies are covered by a tarp. The couple is a lower class family, a small business owner and a nurse practitioner. A break-in turned home invasion and double homicide, the attending officer James Gordon notes, with nothing notable about them except for their name - Wayne.

It isn't mere coincidence, as the city soon learns that the patriarch of the family was indeed the brother of billionaire Phillip Wayne, sole heir to the Wayne family fortune and CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Phillip's reputation as a cold, calculating businessman who never fails to step on the little guy to stay ahead is put aside, as the news portrays him in a gentler light when side-by-side with his 10-year-old nephew at the burial site of the deceased Thomas and Martha Wayne. It is said that Phillip will gain legal custody of the boy, whose name is kept anonymous from the press, and that the mystery child could potentially become the new face of Wayne Enterprises when he turns of age.

This, of course, never happens. When the cameras are done rolling, Phillip places his nephew Bruce into the care of a private investigator that he has on retainer, hoping that a foster home can be found without taking a hit to his newfound publicity. The private investigator, Alfred J. Pennyworth, takes an immediate shine to the boy and decides that Bruce needs to be raised with more care and finesse than Phillip would ever be capable of. Alfred ensures that Bruce's education is paid for and that his future remains prospective in the face of a two-fold barrage of tragedy and greed.

This only partially happens. Bruce is eventually diagnosed as having extreme Post Traumatic Stress. He can barely get through a night's rest without waking up screaming, reliving the horrible night that his parents were murdered. Alfred consults Gotham City's top psychiatrists, but nothing seems to work. Bruce is constantly sneaking out of the house, often being found at his parents' gravesite after hours and telling the officers that find him about the last movie he saw when they were alive: The Shadow Of The Gray Ghost.

"Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot,", the boy explains, paraphrasing the film. "That's how you can stop them, isn't it? Because they're afraid."

The officers usually say nothing, but it's a fantasy that Bruce carries with him for the rest of his life. Growing into the role of a teenage social outcast, he becomes reclusive from his schoolmates, teachers, and neighbors. Alfred eventually learns that Bruce is intentionally blocking them out, with his sights set on one goal: the complete and utter dissolution of organized crime in Gotham. So in a desperate bid to break through to his son, Alfred plays along with this delusion - so much so that he eventually gets lost in it himself. Bruce is convinced that he will need instructors for this mission of his, so Alfred reaches out through the grapevine to find what Bruce is looking for, still thinking it to be harmless, though an intense phase of his troubled young life.

The first instructor that Bruce meets is Ted Grant, a former heavyweight boxing champion turned owner of the run-down Wildcat's Gym. In exchange for taking on a part-time job in helping to fix up the place, Grant gives Bruce nightly lessons in hand-to-hand combat. The basics of boxing, at first, but Bruce eventually convinces Grant to bring in some friends that can teach him a cursory knowledge of how to perform Silat, Kali, Wing Chun, Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thai, Tai Kwon Do, Wushu and even Judo with relative success. Grant is amazed at Bruce's proficiency with each style, displaying a level of memory retention that allows him to mimic and master every move that he's given. By the time that he turns eighteen, Bruce is a natural - so much so that he turns his attention away from combat to seek a new vocation.

Though Alfred eventually retires from the business, he does introduce Bruce to a detective named Slam Bradley under the pretense of needing a steady job. Bradley puts Bruce to work on errands, but eventually catches onto the kid's true intention: he wants to learn the trade. And so Bradley takes him out on a few field investigations, letting him know how to approach a scene undetected, tail a potential suspect, gather evidence, and come up with conclusive results. Within three years, Bruce becomes equal in skill to his mentor and is working as an assistant, breaking some of Bradley's toughest cases on his own.

During this phase in his life, Bruce runs afoul of some dangerous members of Gotham's underworld. But rather than turn back and avoid danger, Bruce seems to run toward it, despite Slam's protests - eventually having a falling out with his determined protege. But Bruce doesn't seem to care, and within a night, Alfred discovers the reason why in a letter left for him: he's realized that to learn all he needs to know, he'll have to turn to more unorthodox mentors to stay ahead. Burglars, thieves, underground fighters, drug dealers, gang members, street racers, and all manner of the criminal element that infests the city. Only through them, Bruce reasons, will he learn how to turn their methods against them. Alfred doesn't see or hear from Bruce for another five years.

But as Bruce's "education" continues, it becomes clear that the Wayne family name is carrying terrible secrets. Phillip Wayne is arraigned on suspicion of colluding with the Falcone Crime Family, painting Wayne Enterprises in a less than flattering light and prompting the question of who will become Wayne's successor. While a few stories run of the mysterious young boy that Phillip supposedly adopted, most outlets are focused on leading figures of the industry that are looking to bid for Wayne Enterprises' stocks. The most ruthless of them is the owner of a franchise series of nightclubs named Oswald Cobblepot, looking to go legitimate and put Wayne Enterprises back on top. In actuality, however, Oswald is Carmine Falcone's rival in the mob and knows that securing the company will generate enough revenue to make his weapons' trade the most prospective venture on the black market. The only thing standing in Oswald's way is the jailed Phillip - and with a single phone call, that obstacle is rooted out: Phillip Wayne dies in a pool of his blood, having been shivved by three fellow inmates. Within a month, Oswald is named CEO of Wayne Enterprises.

Over the next few years, the corruption in Gotham begins to escalate. The streets are engulfed in a massive gang war between Roman Sionis, the sadomasochistic leader of The False Face Society, and Waylon Jones, the murderous psychopath who butchered his way to the top of the food chain, earning himself the moniker of Killer Croc. Through these powerful underworld leaders, several criminal enterprises are allowed to thrive. Dr. Crane of the mental hospital established in place of Wayne Manor following Phillip's death, Arkham Manor, seems to be misplacing many of his patients. The police turn a blind eye to this activity and the District Attorney, Harvey Dent, is proven to be far from incorruptible. Mayor Rupert Thorne openly mocks the victims of GCPD brutality in The Narrows, proclaiming that any violence would have been avoided if they'd vacated their homes. Captain Lyle Bolton is visibly covering up these incidents, threatening any press that attempts to cover what's happening. Millions of citizens are being blackmailed by an anonymous hacker who bizzarely leaves puzzles in places of frozen bank accounts. The economy is down, tensions are escalating, and even those fighting for the good - such as Lieutenant James Gordon - are beginning to lose faith in the possibility that peace can be restored.

Enter a series of robberies at Wayne Enterprises' Applied Sciences Division. A figure in black attacks each of the archival warehouses with uncanny precision. Each security guard is systematically taken down, the alarms are bypassed, the military-grade technology that lies dormant is stolen in irregularly large quantities, and the warehouses themselves are ransacked to the point that no one piece of equipment can be properly identified. Oswald Cobblepot publicly condemns the lunatic responsible, placing pressure on Mayor Thorne and Commissioner Loeb to head up an investigation. But the thief is never caught and the robberies go unsolved.

Around the same time, Lucius Fox is greeted outside of his home by a young man with jet black hair. He tells Fox that he knows what happened to the man's late son, Luke, how nothing was ever done about the wrongful murder at the hands of a corrupt cop named Flass. He promises that if Fox, a former engineer and member of the board of directors at Wayne Enterprises, helps him to not only learn how to use a heap of stolen technology but improve upon it, that he'll make sure Luke's murderer is put in jail for the rest of his life. The man only ever identifies himself as William Kane, but Fox suspects it to be an alias. Nevertheless, he takes a chance. Within a week, Arnold Flass is arrested after evidence is anonymously collected and sent to Lieutenant Gordon. Fox begins teaching 'William' what each gadget does, and 'William' begins sending back notes.

But it isn't enough. Despite being armed to the teeth with such items as an experimental grapple launcher, modified tasers, tear gas and mace caplets that explode upon impact, and a police radio dispatch forcefully taken from a corrupt officer, Bruce Wayne returns to Alfred's doorstep in a bloody heap, near the point of death after having tried to save a family from being jumped just outside of a theater by a gang of False Facers. As he lies in a hospital bed, drifting in and out of consciousness, Bruce begins to relive the night that he'd always been afraid to confront in a series of hallucinations. This assault on his senses doesn't stop until, upon happenstance, Bruce notices a winged animal fighting to defend its nest outside of his hospital window. It inspires him to fight these delusions in tandem, becoming unafraid of the memories of losing his parents as the bat manages to restore its place.

Taking it as a sign, the words of The Gray Ghost echo throughout Bruce's mind throughout his recovery: that criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot. To prey on their fears, he'll have to appear to them as something that isn't entirely human. Within an hour of being released from the hospital, he phones Lucius Fox with a brand new series of ideas - and with some trial and error, a new persona that Bruce crafts for himself that will begin the fight to reclaim Gotham. An unsung figure that will strike from the shadows and use the night to his advantage.

The beginning of the The Gotham Bat's legend has begun.

[Master Bruce]

[Master Bruce]

"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.'" - Matthew 23:16

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

T H E D E V I L O F H E L L ' S K I T C H E N

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^{_{M a t t h e w M u r d o c k ♦ D e f e n s e A t t o r n e y / V i g i l a n t e ♦ H e l l ' s K i t c h e n , N e w Y o r k C i t y , N Y ♦}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

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^{"You believe people can change? I don't think we can. Well, maybe we get a little... nicer. A little angrier. But we can't change our fundamental nature."}

Devil's In The Details

Some time ago, a boy from the boroughs of Clinton was blinded in a freak accident involving radioactive chemicals. His father, a prize-fighter who took dives in order to scrape by, promised his son that he'd make a better life for them in light of the accident. What Jack Murdock didn't know is that while young Matty's sight was completely lost, his other senses were heightened to superhuman degrees and gave him a considerably different view of the world. While it became an assault on his daily life at first, he quickly began to learn to cope. It inspired his father, a relapsed Catholic, to start studying again and become a better man. So when his next bout for the Heavyweight Championship came his way, Jack refused the offer to go down in the third. Instead, he K.O'd his opponent - a Russian newcomer named Anatoly Kynazev - within minutes. Matt doesn't remember much about what happened after that fight. Only that he woke up at three in the morning to the sound of arguing and a gunshot, not far from his and his father's apartment. Jack Murdock was found in an alley, beaten to a pulp with an exit wound splattering the wall.

No investigation was ever properly put forth. The police deemed Jack's death a suicide. Matt knew better, having heard other voices and their displeasure that his father would go against the betting racket of a man they called Rosoe Sweeney. But no one would even think to believe a blind kid who hadn't been at the scene. No one would go onto second guess something that Matt indisputibly knew was cold-blooded murder. And so eventually, the boy was forced to keep silent, taken in at his local church and looked after by the kindly priests and nuns. Until a man eventually came around, claiming that he believed Matt's story about hearing things that weren't there. A blind old man who called himself Stick.

Stick was a bastard, hard-edged and quick to insult. But he knew potential when he heard it. Matt had the soul of a warrior, even at a young age. So the years went by, as Matt devoted his time between finishing his schooling through the Church, honoring one of his father's last wishes by beginning his studies into criminal law, and training with Stick to overcome his disability to learn how to fight. His heightened senses made him a natural, mastering everything from his dad's trade of boxing to jujitsu, and even parkour and gymnastics, which he took a specific interest in as a bid to better hone his superhuman hearing. At seventeen, Stick thought he was ready to hear the reason that he'd chosen Matt as a pupil. About the war that was brewing between two rival factions. Ancient warriors, practicers of dark magic. Ninja assassins and a clandestine group of fighters looking to prevent their conquest of the world.

It was too much for Matt to buy into. After weeks of fights between him and his grandmaster, Matt cut his ties with Stick and decided that he'd devote himself fully to his studies. Stick honored his wishes, but kept in the shadows, knowing that the offer might seem more appealing when he earned some experience in the real world - with some coaxing, of course. But with his devotion to God keeping his moral compass in check, Matt was determined to engage the system that had ignored his dad's murder and get the case re-opened by becoming a lawyer.

Columbia University came calling, and with that, the first real love of his life - a fellow alumni named Karen Page. The two were of equal minds about the justice system's flaws, and had the same aspirations about opening a practice that made a difference. They just needed someone to mentor them in the way that law in Hell's Kitchen could be properly implemented. Down-on-his luck attorney Franklin "Foggy" Nelson fit the bill perfectly, seeing a couple of promising young talent that could revitalize his struggling practice. Nelson was instrumental in Matt and Karen's simultaneous honors within their class, and they were both primed to graduation within the top of their class.

Unfortunately, Matt's life took an unexpected turn. When Roscoe Sweeney began making the rounds again, looking to buy his way back into racketeering, Murdock was overcome with a desire to finally extract the vengeance that had been denied to him for so many years. While he'd worked so hard to work his way up the ranks within the justice system to put Sweeney away, a burning need to hand out justice with his own two hands was beginning to consume him. It was a mentality that conflicted with the Bible's teachings, but he had to put that aside and seize the opportunity to avenge his father. So, he slipped on a pair of black sweats, wrapped his hands in Muay-Tai ropes, and put a hastily-constructed mask over his face.

By the time he'd made quick work of Sweeney's men, Matt was shocked to sense another prescence enter the fight. A female, judging by her heartbeat and perfume, who had no problem shedding blood to get through the group. While Matt and the mysterious woman squared off for the chance to kill The Fixer, they both realized that the man was already hiding in his top floor apartment, keeled over in the midst of cardiac arrest. While the woman was all too quick to leave the crook to his fate, Matt listened for any sign that he could save Sweeney, having a last-minute change of heart when he realized that he wanted his father's murderer to stand trial. But it was too late. Solemnly, Matt left the building without a word, feeling a hollowness in the pit of his soul. If he couldn't have his revenge, what was the point of it all?

A few weeks later, and the woman - who Matt could identify through her unique body chemistry - arrived at his apartment, unannounced and immediately curious. It hadn't taken much effort at all to identify the masked man that she'd fought in a bid to kill The Fixer, but what struck her was the fact that he was really a blind man that possessed gifts that lent themselves to far greater things than this seemingly mundane existence. Introducing herself as Elektra Natchios, she offered Matt a chance to continue his training where Stick had left off. It turned out that she had also run afoul of the old man, and found his war just as insane. But rather than use his teachings to better herself, Elektra had been hellbent on a quest to avenge the assassination of her own father, a Greek dipolmat on tour in America, which had taken place when she was a child. She freely admitted to operating as an assassin-for-hire, but had grown bored of the life and was looking for an escape. Matt, on the other hand, was at a crossroads.

So the two made a deal. If Elektra could teach him the skills that he needed to complete his training, Matt would show her a better use of her talents - avenging those whom the justice system had similarly failed. If he couldn't bring his father's killer to justice, he'd devote his life to bringing every criminal that had fallen through the system's cracks to justice. So by the time that his graduation with a degree in criminal law was acquired, Matt was already spending his nights fashioning an upgraded black suit to compliment Elektra's own fashioned attire. It left his budding relationship with Karen in a strained place, with the two of them agreeing to be partners rather than lovers, but it was the path that Matt finally felt like he could make tangible a difference with.

And so, with the practice of Nelson, Murdock, and Page established as a cheaper alternative for the less fortunate to be defended in court, Matt Murdock began to make waves himself as the washed-up Nelson's top asset in the courtroom. He seemed to have a superhuman sense of when a plaintiff was lying or not, and could exploit that to get innocent clients cleared of their charges. But when they were representing someone that Matt knew was guilty for certain? He took matters into his own hands. While the law seemed to favor his clients' rights, justice still needed an agent to carry out a sentence. His relationship to God would never allow him to kill, but everything else was fair game. Deciding that he'd take an eye-for-an-eye approach to doling out justice, Matt - along with his partner, Elektra - would don the mask and take to the streets as an unforgiving force of God's wrath. This cruelty, combined with the psychological games that Matt would employ out in the field to get a confession from the guilty, would earn him a feared moniker - The Devil of Hell's Kitchen.

Five years into his career as an attorney by day and vigilante by night, Matt is starting to have doubts about the level of brutality that he inflicts on a nightly basis. His senses allow him to control every encounter so that he doesn't go so far as to strike a fatal blow, but his restlessness along with Elektra's influence has begun to blur the line over where he stands. He seeks weekly penance in the form of confession from a nun that watched over him, Sister Maggie, but he's started to challenge God's wisdom in the face of his own inner-turmoil. He wants to be something better than he is, but he can't figure out what that would be.

Making matters worse is that while he and Elektra have been able to keep the small-timers and the wannabe members of the Maggia out of Hell's Kitchen, there's been a new presence beginning to loom large over the fledgling criminal underworld that's been operating in the district - a distant voice in the ear of every petty crook that instructs them on how to claim their piece of the Kitchen, and the considerable wealth to back up all of these endeavors, so long as they pledge loyalty. This figure calls himself The Kingpin, and while he isn't a major player when compared to the likes of Hammerhead, Caesar Cicero, or The Owl, he's been cutting enough deals to potentially, with time gain control of not just a single operation.. but all the Kitchen's illegal output.

Matt Murdock has a choice to make, and soon. Uphold the law by trying to fix the system from within, embracing a side of himself that yearns for true justice... or let the Devil out for real, letting it consume his soul at the cost of saving Hell's Kitchen from complete damnation?

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:

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Only behind Batman, Spidey, and Supes, Daredevil ranks high among my favorite characters. He's someone you can do so many things with, as alot of the prolific runs have taught, but there's something very appealing about his relationship with morality and how he often falls very short. Law and order are nice concepts, but justice is a whole other ballpark, and that's what is going to define Matt's journey towards truly becoming Daredevil - which he distinctly hasn't become, because I want to take the ideas of Born Again and his other low points of Matt's from the comics and use it to enact a tipping point.

He's not a particularly good guy right now, as he maims and tortures criminals without a second thought. The question is, if he puts on the red suit, does he become Daredevil in the traditional sense? Or does he decide that Daredevil is what needs to be feared by all, and really use it as his advantage in an act of letting go of all of the things that he perceives is holding him back?

The reason that Elektra and Kingpin are so focal to this Matt aren't because they're simply enemies to overcome, but they're shadows - echoes of what Matt's inner thoughts are telling him to do. A sort of literalization of the Angel and Devil on the shoulder idea, with Elektra indulging his promise to God not to allow more blood to spill onto the streets while Fisk takes on the role of what Matt would become if he looked at his vigilante crusade as a mission to keep the streets clean, no matter the consequences.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

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Supporting Cast:

Elektra Natchios - Matt's partner on the streets, having traded in the life of an assassin for fellow vigilante. While they're devoted to one another and even engage in the occasional one-night stand, Matt refuses to let their relationship move beyond that because of Elektra's willingness to let herself be known by the criminals they fight. As a result, he doesn't include her in his daily life, fearing that she might destroy the only normalcy he has life.

Franklin 'Foggy' Nelson - Matt's boss and mentor. No longer the bumbling sidekick, Foggy is instead an adept, seasoned attorney that runs the practice of Nelson, Murdock, and Page. While certainly still eccentric, wearing bowties and regularly blasting swing music after a hard day's work, Foggy is more authoritative in his approach to holding Matt accountable.

Karen Page - Matt's law partner. As a defense attorney on her own merits with five years under her belt, Karen has remained the heart and soul of what Matt and Foggy do by regularly reminding them what merits the law still has, and taking both men to task when they seem to forget. Karen and Matt harbor feelings for one another, but Matt's distant behavior regarding his off-duty hours - coupled with the times she's found a mysterious Greek woman enjoying his company at his loft - keeps her at bay.

Wilson Fisk - A renowned land developer and leader of business, Fisk is beloved by the public for his unwavering critique of corrupt officials and law enforcement, even garnering him a few supporters for a Senate run. What few are privy to is the fact that Fisk is a mover and shaker behind the scenes aswell, supplying resources and guidance to those in the criminal underworld that need it. This has earned him the codename 'Kingpin', and a spot among NYC's worst mobsters that think he's worth far more to them as an asset than an enemy. Recently, Wilson has taken particular interest in Hell's Kitchen as a testing ground for something that could result in an empire.

Sister Maggie - Matt's biological mother, unbeknownst to him, and his religious counsel.

Lawrence Cranston -

Ben Urich -

Mary Walker -

Leeland Owlsey -

Vincent Patillo -

Melvin Potter -

Jonathan Powers -

Detective Larks -

Detective Taurens -

Officer Day -

Turk Barrett -

Stick -

S A M P L E P O S T:

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A sample post that can be used in the IC if you so desire upon acceptance. This post should provide an example of your vision for the desired character. This sample post should meet all standards outline in the rules and additionally include dialogue, mannerisms and other actions representative of your intended portrayal.

P O S T C A T A L O G:

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A list linking to your IC posts as they're created. This can be used for a reference guide to your character or to summarize completed arcs and stories.

[Master Bruce]

B A T M A N

Bruce Wayne, 28-29 (b. 1939)
_{Millionaire Playboy / Masked Vigilante
Gotham City, New Jersey
Active since Fall 1963}

Character Concept

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In the shadow of the Great Depression, Gotham City fell under the control of a ruling class of mobsters looking to pilfer the once prosperous capital for all it was worth. From Boss Salvatore Maroni to Sal Valestra and his cohorts Chuckie Sol and Buzz Bronski, innocent citizens and proud patriots to serve in the first World War were all sent to the streets to beg. Some tried to leave, but the easy money made through the available rackets became all too alluring. And with the 1946 election of highly corrupt city councilman Hamilton Hill to the Mayor's office, the police, the DA's office, and everything in between were brought under the control of crime-lord Carmine "The Roman" Falcone.

What drew many outsiders to claim that Gotham was a lost cause, however, was the murder of a prominent doctor and his wife on the streets of the city's celebrated Park Row Avenue. Humanitarians to the very end, Thomas and Martha Wayne were both considered revolutionary in helping to reopen the long dormant Arkham Home For The Criminally Disturbed. But with all evidence pointing towards a peasant mugger being their assailant, and Mrs. Wayne's pearl necklace indicating the motive a robbery, all that could be said about the double event was that it was an act of random tragedy. Not even their orphaned son, Bruce, would be able to identify the culprit.

But a solemn vow would be made. The son's unfathomable despair would give way to an unshakable drive to see justice brought to Gotham's streets. Bruce Wayne would spend the earliest parts of his teenage years abroad in study before officially being declared missing in 1955. In reality, Wayne had left the public eye of his own volition, to master his mind and body in a preparation for a crusade against all crime - a veritable war on a different front.

At age 24, Bruce officially returned to Gotham to claim his multi-million dollar inheritance from the Wayne estate's sole and dutiful benefactor, Alfred Pennyworth. Spending months crafting a suitable public persona as an extravagant playboy, appearing at large social functions, dating fashion models and writing checks for any cause that suited him, Bruce donned a series of disguises to begin infiltrating the criminal underworld.

After a particularly harrowing encounter, however, Bruce found himself lying half-dead in the study of Wayne Manor. He'd somehow overlooked something. The scum he was putting away were back on the streets within hours of when he'd nail them, and the DA's office was powerless to stop the rampantly corrupt GCPD from falsely imprisoning the blacks, the hispanics, the gays, and anyone else who stood defiant against these crooks without looking a certain color or acting a certain way. It disgusted Bruce, who felt particularly powerless, even with all of his newfound wealth.

But one of Kirigi's mantras echoed through his mind: that criminals were inherently "a superstitious and cowardly lot". He didn't want to take the lives of his enemies, but he definitely wanted them scared - and he wanted them to stay afraid, tormented by the mere idea that something as horrible as him could even exist. But to accomplish that, he'd have to be more than a man. Delving into the pulp magazines of his childhood, Wayne's long-admired fictional heroes of Detective Harvey Harris and The Grey Ghost were beginning to give him ideas. And the black and white movies that used to frighten him as a boy, the ones set in creepy castles with monstrous figures appearing out of the shadows to terrorize society, particularly began to take hold of his psyche.

It was while preparing to watch "The Mark Of Zorro", a 1940 swashbuckler about a man of wealth and privilege striking against oppression while wearing a mask, that a stray bat flew into Wayne's study and momentarily frightened him. But that fear quickly dissapated as a life-changing realization took hold. And in shadow of that encounter, the makings of a crusade would begin in earnest.

Weeks went by, preparations were made, and Wayne found himself dwelling atop the rooftops and the dark shadows of the city's alleyways. He had ceased to be a man, opting to instead immerse himself in his new role and become a creature of the night. He easily began dispatching purse snatchers and would-be murderers with his disguise's frightful appearance alone. Police Lieutenant James Gordon would dismiss the vigilante's existence as mere rumor, but columnist Vicki Vale would be the first to identify the figure with an appropriate monkier: The Bat-Man.

Within the next five years, the vigilante earned himself a reputation as an unparalleled detective in addition to being a silent guardian and a watchful protector of the victims of criminality. He'd cultivated an ally in Gordon, who used The Dark Knight's shrewd cunning and dedication to rooting out corruption in order to partially clean up the department. It'd won Gordon the rank of Commissioner, eventually bringing The Batman that much closer in alignment with law enforcement - albeit in an unofficial capacity. Still, when summoned by the giant light in the sky that the Commissioner would go onto deny even existed, The Caped Crusader would appear to fight against threats that were beyond the GCPD's reach.

Threats like Dr. Death and The Mad Monk. Threats like Professor Hugo Strange and his scientifically enhanced Monster Men. Threats like jewel magnate Oswald Cobblepot, who'd not-so-secretly taken over The Roman's operations as the deranged, bird-like, trick umbrella carrying crime-lord known by his loyalists as The Penguin. Threats like the deadly thrill-seeker Catwoman, who pilfered from the rich while using her feminine wiles to stay one step ahead of the law. And threats like the terrible Clown Prince of Crime, a harlequin of hate who seemed to sew chaos and disorder wherever he appeared - The Joker.

But there seemed to be some measure of hope at play. With Falcone having been nabbed by a joint effort between The Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and District Attorney Dent, organized crime seemed to be entering a downward spiral by the summer of '67. While what seemed to be replacing them was even more bizarre, such as the Alice In Wonderland-themed criminal Jervis Tetch, aka The Mad Hatter, aswell as The Scarecrow, an underworld bogeyman who kidnapped and tortured his enemies with a series of experiments that left them paralyzed with chemically induced terror, there were signs that Gotham was nevertheless beginning to see a brighter tomorrow. From a successful Mayoral campaign of the criminal reform-minded William Linseed, as publicly endorsed by millionaire Bruce Wayne, to the appointment of Dr. Jonathan Crane, a brilliant and widely recognized criminal psychiatrist, as the director of the newly minted Arkham Behavioral Rehabilitation Center.

Adopting acrobat turned orphan Richard "Dick" Grayson as his ward, Bruce began training the boy to be able to find and bring his own parents' killer to justice. This evolved into a full-fledged partnership, where Bruce, under a candlelight oath, swore Grayson in as one half of what was sure to become a Dynamic Duo. At the start of a new year, Batman is left unsure of himself: he doesn't want to discourage the boy from following in his footsteps, but he can't help but shake the feeling that he's made a grave mistake in allowing him to walk his exact path as Robin, The Boy Wonder. Add to it the reports from recent months of an amateur directly inspired by him, a Bat-girl, and Bruce is beginning to feel uncertain that his campaign as a Caped Crusader is beginning to do more good than harm.

Of course, he doesn't know the half of what's coming. The fifth year of The Dark Knight's crusade will be his most trying yet, giving him new enemies, a new romance, and a set of partners to contend with that will change the course of everything. Batman can brave the storm, but whether Bruce Wayne's soul will survive the eye of it is an entirely different matter.

My take on this is pretty simple: in the comics, or whichever continuity you subscribe to, Batman goes through a generally dark period in his first year before lightening up considerably and taking Robin on as his partner. This... will not be that, as the realities of late 1960's America will keep Bruce perpetually hardened and crime-oriented despite the fact that he's all but eradicated the mob.

Equal parts Sam Spade, James Bond, and all of his pulp contemporaries wrapped into one, this Batman will have to contend with a rogue's gallery that will reflect the madmen, sociopaths, and murderers ripped out of the headlines of both the period he'll exist in and the two decades to follow. If you thought The Joker was creepy on his own, think of what a version of the clown can do with a bit of that Night Stalker flair for random, brutalized insanity. Or a Riddler who operates closer to The Zodiac Killer.

There'll certainly still be plenty of room for the superhero elements, but this version of Bats isn't going up against anyone looking out to play games. These are matters of life and death, every single night, and will be treated with the same gravitas as a 70's crime thriller. Some of this stuff is gonna get downright raw, which I think is still vastly uncharted territory for a child-friendly character like Bruce Wayne, despite many writers' attempts to push those boundaries.

Buckle up.

Key Notes

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TBD

References / Sample Post

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Coming soon...

[Master Bruce]

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

B A T M A N

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^{_{Bruce Wayne ♦ CEO Of Wayne Enterprises ♦ Gotham City, New Jersey, USA}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

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"People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy... and I can't do that as Bruce Wayne."

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Basically, I'm running with the idea that every big media interpretation - all of the live-action fare, BTAS, the games, etc - has all happened and are canon, with the exception that none of the villains ever died. So Joker didn't fall off a bell tower, Penguin didn't choke on bile and drown, Catwoman never blew herself up, Two-Face never fell to the bottom of a well or fell off of a construction site, Ra's wasn't permanently killed in a train explosion, etc, etc, etc. But the general idea is that Batman's career has hinged on these moments aswell as many of the notable comic book storylines. As such, he's quite an older man and very experienced, with all of the sidekicks and the rogues' gallery members you could think of - not quite at the level of a Dark Knight Returns era, but enough to be showing signs of age.

Also, given recent comic events, I'm just gonna go ahead and say that Alfred is dead. Feels like he'd be better served in that regard at this stage of Batman's career than if he were waiting on Bruce with tea or something in the Batcave.

P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S ):

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My idea for a story is to actually examine the fragility of Batman as a man rather than trump up his hyper-trained mind and physique. He's had all of those for a long time, but he's starting to notice that he's getting slower and his mind is getting foggier. He's always been shown as someone who struggles with his sanity, but he's never really written to experience simple things like arthritis, disease, and even the idea that he'll eventually get too old to suit up anymore. So what better time to lay a prominent murder mystery in his lap to try and sharpen the senses? Every member of his rogue's gallery is a potential suspect and the victim is a prominent figure in Gotham, in a sense - but with no clear M.O., it's going to take some doing on Bruce's part to piece everything together. Add to that any plots that villain players or players who want to take up the extended family (Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin, Batgirl, Oracle, ect.) can bring to the table and I can keep things going in Gotham for a multitude of different interactions. The only hard-set supporting character I intend to utilize is Gordon, so any other player has the freedom to jump in and work with me to their content.

Batman's an overarching shadow over Gotham, both literally and figuratively, so it shouldn't be hard to draw his attention if you're in the area.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

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In the interest of specificity, these are the events that I'm considering canon alongside the comic continuity that ends with Tom King's run:

Mask Of The Phantasm

All of the flashbacks to Bruce's pre-vigilante life would be canon, aswell as his engagement to a first love that ultimately ends with the two being split by their respective destinies - though instead of Andrea Beaumont/The Phantasm, it'd be Bruce's first comic book love, Julie Madison.

Batman Begins

Most of the training and origin would derive from here, aswell as Ra's Al Ghul's plot to cleanse Gotham of it's crime by attempting to douse it in a purified form of The Scarecrow's fear toxin.

Batman '89

The Joker first appearing to terrorize the city after a botched raid on a chemical factory and a doomed romance with Vicki Vale.

Batman Returns

The first appearance of The Penguin and Catwoman, with the former trying to launch an insidious campaign for Mayor and the latter becoming a big part of Bruce's romantic life, despite their considerably split views on capital punishment.

Batman Forever

Bruce adopting Dick Grayson around the same time as a massive crime wave perpetrated by Two-Face and a newly emerged Riddler, resulting in Dick's first adventure as Robin. Bruce would have also had a bit of an identity crisis around this time.

The Dark Knight

The Joker's big return, having reinvented himself as a so-called "agent of chaos" and being directly involved in the events that first turn Harvey Dent into Two-Face. Batman is still considered an outlaw at this point in his career, aswell.

Batman & Robin

Bruce coming to realize the importance of utilizing his allies as Batgirl is brought into the fold, amidst a city-wide panic involving Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy.

The Dark Knight Rises

The same idea of intersecting the Knightfall storyline with No Man's Land would be kept intact, aswell as Bane's alliance with Talia Al Ghul. The difference being that Ra's isn't dead, Bruce is only out of action for as long as his back is broken, Catwoman is already established and they don't end up running off together, and there's no hero cop named Robin to take the place of Dick Grayson as Robin.

Batman: Under The Red Hood

Everything would be in canon for the Jason Todd period of Bruce's career, from Jason's fateful final mission as Robin to his resurrection through the Lazarus Pit and his attempt to take over Gotham's crime families through murder and a revenge quest.

Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice

For a time, following Jason's death, Bruce would become more volatile towards criminals and behave rather out of character up to a point, even coming to blows with The Man Of Steel after a severe misunderstanding. It just wouldn't have anything to do with their mothers' respective first name, and neither would have killed anyone. Following the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday, Bruce would be shaken out of this.

Justice League (film)

- Bruce being at the forefront of a campaign to recruit more members for the Justice League in Superman's absence, to prepare for a coming invasion by an alien force.

Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures

- Any and all of it that doesn't contradict the above continuity notes. So basically, Dick becoming Nightwing, Barbara being let in on the secret, Tim taking up the mantle of Robin, Harley Quinn becoming a thing, and Bruce's rogues getting alot darker and scarier over time.

Batman: Arkham Asylum/Arkham City

- Everything up to The Joker ending up dead. He still juices up with Titan, but his illness is brief and is only ever a catalyst for Bruce to be infected aswell, forcing him to come up with a cure to save them both.

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P O S T C A T A L O G:

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A list linking to your IC posts as they're created. This can be used for a reference guide to your character or to summarize completed arcs and stories.

[Master Bruce]

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

M A R C S P E C T O R
A g e n t O f C H E C K M A T E

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^{_{Marc Spector / Steven Grant / Jake Lockley ♦ Former Marine / Secret Agent / Cab Driver
Various / Brooklyn, New York City, NY ♦ Checkmate / Little Chicago Cab Company}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T :

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^{"I died once. It was boring, so I stood up."}

This is where you outline your vision for the character including any notable changes or differences from the regularly accepted canon. This should be a short summary that provides insight into where the character is in terms of their overall progress and development.

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S :

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There are very few characters that I feel like I could tell a "hero before they wear the costume" type of story with. I even ran into a wall with that when trying to write Bruce Wayne. But Marc is a pretty fascinating character to pluck out of his prior origin period due to two things, his nature as a soldier-turned-mercenary and his struggle with Dissociative Identity Disorder. In trying to figure out how to slowly build to Moon Knight from a base level, I imagined a scenerio where instead of simply being a gun for hire who winds up betrayed by his superior officer, he's recruited into a shadowy organization that looks to manipulate his condition and trick him into carrying out missions that are beyond morally questionable. In that way, it expands his horizons as a character and gives him more weight going into taking up the cape and shroud. I also wanted a chance to write an extensive supporting cast, but no prior team really fit what I was looking for... which is why I decided on Checkmate, since there is no set roster for that and I can incorporate both the DC and Marvel stables believably.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S :

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Maxwell Lord - Black King
Jessica Drew - White Queen

Wendy Harris - Black Bishop
Jean-Paul DuChamp - White Bishop

Christopher Chance - Black Knight
Marc Spector - White Knight

Christopher Smith - Black Rook
Yelena Belova - White Rook
Eve Eden - Black Rook
Wade Wilson - White Rook

Marcus Johnson
Thomas Tresser
Clay Quartermain
Kate Spencer - Pawns

S A M P L E P O S T :

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A sample post that can be used in the IC if you so desire upon acceptance. This post should provide an example of your vision for the desired character. This sample post should meet all standards outline in the rules and additionally include dialogue, mannerisms and other actions representative of your intended portrayal.

P O S T C A T A L O G :

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A list linking to your IC posts as they're created. This can be used for a reference guide to your character or to summarize completed arcs and stories.

[Master Bruce]

Gotham City RP (Tentatively Titled "Gotham City Limits")

- Year 10

- All of the sidekicks and villains would be pre-established, so no first appearances

- Plot to possibly revolve around the formation of the GTO (similar to White Knight), Batman joins them? Dually deputized agent of the law type of scenerio?

- Gang wars? At least one primary conflict to pit two sides against eachother

- OC characters allowed alongside canon

- Primary factions being the Bat-family, the GTO/GCPD, and the Arkham crowd. More factions possible within player choices.

- Focus on choosing "paths", the light, the gray, and the dark.

- Serial killer sub-plot akin to Long Halloween? Someone's picking off the B-tier villains.

- Another route would be the return of a forgotten enemy. Carmine Falcone isn't as dead as thought? Hush feeling up to another city-wide game? Hugo Strange looking to make more Monster Men? There are possibilities...

- Death matters. And someone will die at pre-determined points. Maybe even Batman isn't safe?

- Events would be focused on a single supervillain attack on Gotham. So one would be Two-Face centered, another would be The Joker, another would be League Of Shadows, ect. No two would be alike in scope or type of event.

- No other DCU characters without justifiable provcation. Superman and Wonder Woman wouldn't be hanging around for an extended period of time. Green Arrow or The Question being in town to bust heads, however...

[Master Bruce]

T H E B A T M A N
T H E B A T M A N

^{"Tell all your friends about me."}

C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y _________________________________________________________ Bruce W. Wayne _________________________________________________________ Caucasian | Billionaire Industrialist _________________________________________________________ Gotham City | New Jersey | USA C H A R A C T E R N O T E S C H A R A C T E R N O T E S _________________________________________________________ [+] - M I S C E L L A N E O U S ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ ► ALLIES ALFRED PENNYWORTH - The Batcave's Man-at-arms. The faithful butler and father figure since Bruce's parents died, Alfred is still perfectly capable of upkeeping Wayne Manor and all of it's secrets - but he's slowing down. Despite his stubborn tenacity to serve, Bruce is more than aware that his old friend isn't long for this world and wants nothing more than for him to take a step back and enjoy the time he has left. LIEUTENANT JAMES GORDON - Head of the MCU. Offered a demotion by the Mayor as a means of compromising following public scrutiny over his alignment with The Batman, Gordon was a phone call away from resigning out of a sense of integrity. Only when The Dark Knight convinced him otherwise did he accept the Mayor's terms. Now, the vigilante feels he owes it to his closest ally in the field to make their partnership even more worth the sacrifice. SELINA KYLE - Owner of The Iceberg Lounge. Having worked with Batman to oust Oswald Cobblepot from power within the criminal underworld, the one-time Catwoman has briefly hung up her whip in an effort to run what was once the central hub of Gotham City's most illicit dealings. Dedicating her newfound resources towards setting up a supposed criminal empire of her own, Selina both acts as a crucial informant to the Bat-Family and as a silent protector of those who are victimized by her clientele. WILLIAM ANDERSON - His honor, The Mayor of Gotham. A former city councilman and family man that successfully campaigned on traditional values and the re-establishment of order, Anderson's zero-tolerance policies brought him directly into conflict with the unspoken rule of the GCPD's allowance of vigilante justice. Promising to rid the city of both the influence of the criminal element and The Batman, the Mayor has graciously accepted the aid of Bruce Wayne as a financial benefactor since the beginning. Because despite his firm stance against his alter-ego, everything Wayne has discovered about Anderson seems to point toward a genuine soul willing to fight for the good of the city. COMMISSIONER RENEE MONTOYA - Leader of The GCPD, founder of The GTO. While accepting the task of replacing Jim Gordon was difficult, Montoya is more pragmatic about her approach when dealing with the combined threat of Gotham's supervillains and it's plainclothes criminals. She knows that both need equal attention, so after working with Mayor Anderson to develop it, Montoya has established the Gotham Terrorist Oppression Unit to take the fight to the repeat offenders of Arkham Asylum and Blackgate. Along with Captain Bullock, the GTO's leader, she runs a tight ship to weed out the best of the best. While she hasn't any grievances with The Batman, she also doesn't outwardly condone his methods - and if ordered to arrest him or his followers, she'll do so without hesitation. ENEMIES The Joker The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot Professor Hugo Strange Two-Face/Harvey Dent The Riddler/Edward Nashton Mr. Freeze/Victor Fries Carmine "The Roman" Falcone The Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane Ra's Al Ghul Talia Al Ghul Bane OPERATIVES Nightwing/Dick Grayson* Batgirl/Barbara Gordon Robin/Timothy Drake-Wayne Redbird/Damian Wayne Black Bat/Cassandra Cain-Wayne Spoiler/Stephanie Brown Signal/Duke Thomas Azrael/Jean-Paul Valley Bluebird/Harper Row Batwing/Luke Fox *Protects the city of Blüdhaven, so is more of a reserve. (These are all subject to change based on anyone applying for them.) - P O S T C A T A L O G P O S T C A T A L O G _________________________________________________________ [+] - P O S T C A T A L O G ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ ◼ -

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T ________________________________________________________________________________________ This version of Batman has been operating in Gotham City since 2008, and is roughly in his mid-forties. He was a founding member of The Justice League and remained with the team until their disbandment, seeing no desire to return. His history largely reflects that of the Post-Crisis/Rebirth continuities, where he became dedicated to crimefighting after the murder of his parents, trained his mind and body to their limits in a worldwide journey, returned to fight the corrupt while disguised as a fearsome creature of the night, made enemies of increasingly volatile opportunists and the insane, adopted several recruits into the fold and oversaw their training, built up an arsenal of some of the most advanced non-lethal technology and weapons on Earth, and firmly established himself in the world of buisness while also presenting the facade of a careless playboy. He's legally adopted Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, and Cassandra Cain as his children, and has a biological son in Damian. He still believes that Jason Todd died the night that The Joker murdered him. And while he and Selina Kyle nearly married, it wasn't meant to be. P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S ) P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S ) ________________________________________________________________________________________ Bruce will be driven by one of his worst habits: the fear that eventually, he'll lose everyone closest to him to violence. While he obviously has a rather large family of agents, Batman has become increasingly isolated from them and operates on his own in the field. This makes him vulnerable to behavior that could threaten everything he's built, particularly when his enemies seize the opportunity to make his life hell under the machinations of a mysterious third party looking to destabilize the well-being of Gotham's protector out of personal revenge. To do that, Batman will be put through a gauntlet of his worst foes, from The Riddler to Bane, Ra's Al Ghul, The Penguin, and eventually, The Joker, who still has yet to pay for the murder of the second Robin many years ago. And on the path towards that endgame, he'll be forced to come into conflict with those who bear his symbol to ultimately challenge this pattern of behavior.

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