Lord Wraith

Absolute Comics: Rebirth

P R E S E N T

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_{C H A P T E R O N E : C O M E T O G E T H E R}

DEVIL IN HER HEART

L O S A N G E L E S

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^{November 13th, 2017 - 12:03 AM | Los Feliz}

The club was loud, the music almost deafening as the bass pumped through the speakers located nearly every ten feet throughout the room. Bright flashes of light illuminated the club in strobe-like patterns as the silhouette of barely dressed women as they moved up and down poles strategically mounted around the room. His eyes watched the dancers with a certain hunger, his tongue darting out of his watering mouth as he licked his lips enthusiastically. Leaning on the edge of his seat, the man chewed on his fingers, imagining the woman in front of him at his mercy. A sweet aroma wafted by his nose, diverting his attention as he turned around to find the source of the perfume, rising up from his seat as he walked towards the woman whom the scent was rolling off of.

As she exited the building, the woman pulled a cigarette from his pouch, lighting it immediately before taking a long drag. Exhaling the smoke into the cool night's air, she turned around, suddenly startled by the presence of the smiling man behind her.

"Got a light?" He asked, holding up a cigarette of his own. "Seem to have lost my lighter."

"Yeah, uh." The woman stated fumbling in her handbag. "Here." She responded, handing the lighter towards the man.

"Not even gonna light it for me?" The man smirked as he took the lighter, flicking the lid open as it ignited the flame and subsequently his own cigarette. Taking a couple of quick puffs, he blew a smoke ring into the air before turning back to the girl who had already extinguished her cigarette and went back inside the club.

"Typical." He muttered taking another drag before turning and walking into the alley. Whistling into the night, the man walked along swinging his keys around before a rush of wind ran up his back. Pausing, he slowly turned around, only to see an empty alley before jumping as a cat ran out from under a ruffled newspaper. Letting out a nervous chuckle, the man turned around scolding himself for being such a 'nancy'.

The last thing he saw was teeth.

* * *

L O S A N G E L E S

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^{November 13th, 2017 - 12:18 AM | Union Station}

The station never slept.

The sounds of metal against metal constantly grinding and grating, echoed through the aging walls while the stench of diesel floated inside from the terminal outside. The terminal seemed to run continuously as bus after bus loaded and unloaded its occupants, sending them off into the awaiting city of angels. The lone rider of the midnight train, exited the car as she pulled her dark blue hood up over her long ebony locks.

The noise of the city was almost drowning for the girl as wave after wave of emotion washed over her, pushing against her personal barriers as she tried to filter through the overwhelming noise. Yet one emotion was louder than the others as the voice of pure, unbridled fear screamed into either ear. A familiar sense of obligation filled the girl as she pushed against all the other voices, honing in on the loudest one, her soul-self wrapping its dark wings around her before warping the girl towards the source.

The alley was dark and rank. The less than appealing smells of vomit and urine practically wafted from the unkempt stone walls surrounding the club. But another smell hung in the air, fresh and sharp, vaguely metallic, the young woman recognized it as blood. Pulling down her hood, the former Titan looked around the scene for any indication of what caused the murder.

Emotions hung in the air, desire, rejection, regret, anger and most importantly fear. But something else, something feral.

Hunger.

Raven looked around, the hunger was raw, unbridled. She had felt this hunger before. It wasn't a hunger she wanted to experience again, - it wasn't natural. There were only a select number of beings that felt a hunger like this and none of them originated from Earth's realm. A hunger like this belonged in the realms of Hell.

Fresh blood splatter shimmered in the moonlight on the nearby bricks as Raven cautiously stepped forward. The body of the victim was nowhere to be seen, which left Raven with only two thoughts, neither of which were pleasant. The first idea that crossed Raven's mind was that the body was needed for some other ritual, but rarely did a loosed demon need to perform any sort of ritual. Her gut instead said that the demon ate the body, bones and all. Some of her father's offspring had been particularly forward about how good warm marrow tasted.

With no body and no knowledge of the city, it was going to be a lot harder to get answers. It wasn't like Raven to just walk away, even before her time with the Titans, the girl had felt an obligation to fight back. To seek justice for the souls ripped from Earth by those in the employ of her father. It was her mission, and hers alone to prevent the rise of Trigon, she couldn't allow anyone else to take that risk again, not after nearly having her friends in San Francisco killed.

The sudden realization she was being watched, caused Raven to turn quickly as a dark figure looked down upon her from a nearby rooftop with a familiar brooding presence. A sad smile crossed Raven's face as she allowed her soul-self to envelope her, transporting her to the rooftop to confront her former teammate. It was all too late, that Raven realized the brooding figure was not Richard Grayson as a wave of emotion washed over her, including one all too familiar sensation.

Hunger.

The being before her looked all too human, as Raven took a step backwards, raising her hands slightly towards a defensive position. She had no idea what type of demon this man was, but she was ready to send it back to the hell from whence it came. The two figures paced back and forth, each evaluating the other as Raven tried to determine her best course of action. There was no fear, no anger and while the hunger was present, it wasn't raging, it was contained, almost eerily controlled for a supernatural being.

"You're not the one I'm looking for."

"You're not the one I'm looking for."

Both individuals spoke at the same time, before the male suddenly moved away, departing the rooftop in the time Raven took to blink. He might not be the demon she was looking for, but he was still something that shouldn't be taken lightly.

There was no doubt in her mind that their paths would cross again.

Absolute Comics: Rebirth

@Ruby, Helena is accepted!

Absolute Comics: Rebirth

@Lord Wraith 24hrs have passed with no challenging applications, you are accepted.

Absolute Comics: Rebirth

P R E S E N T

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_{C H A P T E R O N E : G R O W I N G P A I N S}

DISCARDED TOYS

G O T H A M C I T Y

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^{November 18th, 2017 - 07:21 AM | The Batcave}

Damian was furious.

It had taken hours for the adhesive, a substance he now knew to be Arachnid's web-fluid, to dissolve enough to free himself. It was entirely below Damian's abilities to have lost that fight and as an insult to injury, the Cat had taken his favourite sword. Entering into the Batcave, Goliath came to a stop as Damian dismounted, petting his loyal friend as he passed by. A nearby bark of joy alerted Damian to the presence of another of his pets as the large black Great Dane came bounding towards him.

"Hello, Titus." Damian grinned as he pulled the cowl back from his head and opened his arms to greet the dog. From across the large opening, Damian could see his father working at the Batcomputer, a letter in his hand clearly disturbing him. While Damian could have approached his father, he felt that it would be best not to do so, especially while still garbed in his own role as Gotham's other Dark Knight. No, in this case, it would be best to let this sleeping dog lie.

Changing out of his uniform, Damian stowed the Batsuit into the waterproof case he had designed for it before lowering it back into the watery bowels of the cave. While his father now knew of the suit, he couldn't trust the old man not to destroy it the minute the opportunity presented itself. Thus it was best not to tempt fate.

Grabbing a small meal from the kitchen, Damian made his way through the empty halls of Wayne Manor, eventually arriving at his personal wing. Finishing his food, he deposited the dirtied dish on the bedside table before climbing under the covers and remotely closing the blackout curtains.

It was time to sleep.

G O T H A M C I T Y

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^{November 18th, 2017 - 08:54 PM | Grand Avenue}

Another body had been found.

Far more gruesome than the previous body, this one had limbs attached that did not belong to them. Although the skin colour was the same, it was clear that the arms and legs belonged to that of a young boy, not the girl whose torso that had been attached to.

Damian knelt over the body, drawing a forensic kit from the belt of his batsuit, he began to scrape a skin sample. The blade however, had no effect on the skin, it was hard, even to the touch, feeling more consistent with porcelain than it the normal elasticity of the human dermal layer. There was no doubt in Damian's mind, that whatever this grotesque procedure was, it was killing the subject before the twisted mind could complete his work.

Both a blessing and a curse.

He needed access to the full coroner's report, field investigations were not going to cut it. Working without his father, however, meant that he was also without his father's extensive contacts. But Damian was nothing, if not resourceful. He had already made contact with exactly who would know how to get the information he wanted.

Letting out a sharp whistle, Damian grappled to the top the nearby building as he allowed for himself to pulled into the air, gliding on the momentum until suddenly Goliath appeared.

"Park Row, we need to see Dr. Thompkins."

With a snort of acknowledgment, Goliath circled around and headed East towards the clinic.

Absolute Comics: Rebirth

P R E S E N T

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_{C H A P T E R O N E : G R O W I N G P A I N S}

CAT'S CRADLE

^{F E A T U R I N G @Inkarnate A S T H E B L A C K C A T}

G O T H A M C I T Y

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^{November 18th, 2017 - 12:45 AM | The Coventry}

Gotham always had a story, costumed freaks were never far away. It was what Fernando Lopez lived for, his livelihood counted on it. He was a nightcrawler, an amateur reporter, barely above an ambulance chaser in the eyes of most emergency service workers. Lopez had been working a story on the Escabedo Cartel, tracking their hideout to an abandoned ice creamery.

Snowy Cones Ice Cream

In years gone by the factory would have been the type of place that Lopez would expect to run into Mister Freeze or hell, even the Penguin in his juvenile days. Pulling out his camera to record his approach, movement on the roof caught his attention. Looking towards the night sky, Lopez saw the bat-signal illuminating the horizon as its light outlined the figure of a woman in a catsuit moving along the rooftop.

Someone stealing from the Escabedos was certainly worthy of news, even more so when Fernando's source had given him the notion the Cartel was currently in the middle of dealing with New York City's own Kingpin. Watching the thief move with subtle grace, Lopez forget to mind his surroundings and very quickly found a gun pointed in his direction. The sound of gunfire caused him to immediately drop to the ground, dialing nine-one-one before stammering into his phone.

"Cat thief, shots fired, help!"

G O T H A M C I T Y

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^{November 18th, 2017 - 12:45 AM | The Coventry}

The Northern winds were almost bone-chilling as Damian rode atop of Goliath's back. The Sprang River opened up beneath the pair as the Bowery bowed to the shore of the water body before Damian crossed into the Gotham Heights as they rose from the shore parting the sky with dark shadowy silhouettes and the flashes of lights from lit interiors. Looking Southward, Damian could see the Bat-Signal illuminating the cold night sky as it shone triumphantly. That was something for his father to answer to, Damian had no interest in chasing down whichever cop was trying too hard to be Gordon at the moment.

Catwoman was thought to have moved on from Gotham, the Bat had not tangled with the Cat in nearly a decade, their last encounter shortly after Damian had arrived in Gotham. She had come to the cave, anxious to meet with Bruce, but Damian's presence had left her perturbed and dismissive. Whatever she had wanted to tell Bruce, she never did, instead, the pair had a falling out which ended with Selina's departure from Gotham.

The Batcomputer had reported a sighting of the Cat in Paris about two weeks ago, which led Damian to believe that the current perpetrator was not Selina but another copy-cat.

That was Dick-levels of bad.

The dragon bat's massive silhouette suddenly blocked out the light on the ground below as Goliath cast a shadow that would make even the most hardened criminal quake in their boots. Spotting the sole thief moving along the rooftops, Damian turned Goliath on a direct collision course. Bracing himself, Damian moved from his saddled position into a crouch as Goliath did a flyby only for the young Dark Knight to backflip into the air and land face the woman in the domino mask.

"Little cold for a midnight stroll." Damian stated gruffly as he maintained a defensive position. For some, the bat on the chest was enough to end the fight, for others, it was a challenge.

The cat thief jumped back, landing on her feet as a metal case dangled from her fingers. It seemed like the heist would’ve gone off without a hitch had it not been for the interference of Lopez’s call. To try to pull one over him in his city? Pathetic.

“I guess the cat is out of the bag. You must be the famous caped crusader.” She cooed, as if she wasn’t in the slightest bit intimidated.

This was the “famous” Black Cat of Manhattan and according to the Bat-computer’s files one that was dangerous enough to not underestimate due to over fifty years of information on the supposed thief’s career. However, this incarnation of the Black Cat was still relatively “new”. Only a few years of noteworthy experience with her biggest claim to fame being the associate of New York’s famed web-slinger. Her Modus Operandi wasn’t all that different than Catwoman’s own, though he wondered what the Arachnid knew about her that he did not.

"TT." Damian didn't make any further remarks as he moved forward, feinting a fist before bringing a reverse roundhouse towards the Cat's left hand. Aiming to remove the stolen contents from her possession, Damian let out a sharp whistle as Goliath circled back around, diving towards the rooftop once again.

“Hands off, Bats.” She uttered as she jumped back, the kick missing its mark as her feet touched the ground.

“I worked long and hard planning this heist to leave with thi—” She cut herself off as her eyes caught the figure of Goliath coming in for the kill. Damian wondered if she was scared or intimidated by his faithful companion, though for some reason he couldn’t quite get a read on her body language. The mask that covered her face alongside strands of silver hair made it difficult to gauge her facial expressions. Smart.

Either way, it was clear that Goliath had made the Cat reconsider her current choice of action as she faulted to continue forward. Suddenly, she darted rightward—off of the building itself. The familiar sound of a grappling hook ‘clicking’ followed.

Cursing inwardly, Damian followed suit, diving over the edge as the wings of the suit spread out to slow his descent. Goliath flew in parallel with him, as Damian attempted to slice the Cat's grappling line with a batarang before climbing onto to Goliath's back as the dragon bat evened out and began to ascend again. Leaping from Goliath's back, Damian landed on the ground at the same moment as the Cat. Not wanting to allow the cat a second to regain herself, Damian immediately engaged his foe.

“You know, you’re a lot smaller in person.” She quipped as she dodged to the left, the weight of the case somehow not affecting her. Even in peak condition? Was he dealing with a metahuman on top of a cat thief?

The blow of her foot to the back of his head alerted Damian he had let his guard down. Truth be told, the girl was far more interesting than he had anticipated. This lead to an unfortunate lack of focus that was now showing despite Damian's best efforts otherwise. Another blow rocked his cowl as Damian let out a growl.

It was time to get serious.

Blocking a third blow, Damian reached into his belt, producing a hilt as a blade of energy emitted from it. The weapon was developed by Timothy Drake for a former teammate of his, but Damian had perfected the design. It wouldn't cut human flesh, but it was going to hurt.

“Oooh. Fancy. That’ll add nicely to my trophy wall.”

Another jab of humor, she was neither impressed nor intimidated. Both of which would have given Damain an edge and yet here he was fighting on even ground with a girl who had no right to be as skilled in combat as the son of the Batman. Each swing of his blade came up empty as the two engaged in a deadly dance, their feet trampling the fresh dusting of snow that had fallen all over Gotham.

He caught it out of the corner of his eye, her right hand reached into her utility belt in a snap instant, though given his limited information he could only guess what she had retrieved as he turned to face her with sword in hand. Her every look and movement were sleights against him—sleights against his legacy. How many years had he trained now for him to get so few strikes in? Compared to him, no matter whatever metagene she had, she was an amateur. He almost could hear his mother’s voice behind him, taunting him.

You're such a disappointment, Damian.

Gritting his teeth, Damian forced his mother's voice out of his head only to take a sucker punch from the Cat as he landed on his back. There was no helping it now, she was in his head and this was a losing battle. Cursing inwardly, his father would never have fallen for such nonsense. Activating the thermal vision in his cowl, Damian threw a handful of smoke pellets to the ground as he gripped the hilt of his weapon with both hands, drawing the blade back and rushing into the cloud.

As he swung, Damian's arms were hit by something as they became latched together, a strong, white adhesive spreading across their surface.

“Heh. Quite the sticky situation we've got here.” The Cat smiled holding up another capsule as Damian's eyes widened. Moving to get out of the way, Damian felt another impact as the second capsule began to spread across his back, entangling his legs before tripping as the Cat delivered her final coup-de-grace sealing Damian's fate as she danced over to the nearly cocooned hero, kicking the hilt from his hands and placing a boot on his chest.

“You’re not the real Batman, are you?” She teased, her smile causing even more rage to grow within Damian as he struggled fruitlessly against the adhesive. Picking up Damian's sword, the Cat pocketed the blade on her belt as she gave the 'Bat' a wink.

“Tell Batman that the Black Cat says ‘hello’, Robin.”

With her final words, the Black Cat disappeared into the night as Damian whistled for Goliath. The dragon bat descended upon the ground as it nuzzled the stuck Damian before clawing at the web-fluid only to pull it's paw back in repulsion at the strange consistency.

"TT."

Absolute Comics: Rebirth

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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^{A N G E L & R A V E N ♦ N E U T R A L G O O D}

† C O N C E P T A B S T R A C T:

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^{"People rationalize what they can and forget what they can't"
R A V E N}

The idea behind this proposal is hinged heavily on the supernatural and my love of supernatural procedurals such as Grimm and Angel. To this end, I've put together Angel, as based on the character from the Buffyverse and Raven, heavily based on both her animated and comic counterparts. Together, the pair will come together to fight back against the supernatural in Los Angeles, the City of Angels. Drawn to L.A. by a seed of her father Trigon, Raven arrives in town to investigate, with her investigation put her on a collision course with Angel and the two eventually agree to work together. With the threat of Trigon manifesting in L.A. convincing Raven to stay put for the time being, the two fight back against the supernatural.

My plot arcs will have room for other supernatural characters from across Absolute's Universe to show up. Team-ups with Mobius, Etrigan, Zatanna, and Sabrina would work perfectly. In terms of the characters, Angel will have a past which involves Buffy, but it will only be in passing reference unless that character herself was actually applied for. Otherwise, this is an Angel who is looking to redeem himself for his time as Angelus and using his abilities and newfound soul to operate as a private investigator in L.A. while keeping the forces of evil at bay. Raven on the other hand, is slightly older than she's been depicted in most other media, possibly with a past with the Titans pending discussion. She's on a mission to find herself and has been traveling the country to proactively destroy any sources of her father's influence.

† P L O T M O C K - U P:

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^{"I'm not evil again. Why does everyone think that?"
A N G E L}

_{C H A P T E R O N E}

COME TOGETHER

One of Raven's brothers has come to Los Angeles, his killing spree garnering the attention of Angel. Hunting the spree killer, Raven encounters the vampire with a soul as an alliance begins to take shape.

_{C H A P T E R T W O}

HEAT OF THE NIGHT

An arsonist is targeting a slum neighborhood only one landlord doesn't believe it is a coincidence after the visit of a developer. Contacting Angel and Raven, the pair are asked to investigate and it becomes very evident they aren't dealing with a run of the mill arsonist.

† N O T E S:

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† Angel really hates pineapple on his pizza while Raven is rather fond of the flavor.

Absolute Comics: Rebirth

Can I still join?

@NameUserOf

Always open, always accepting.

Absolute Comics: Rebirth

@Ink Blood, Gambit is accepted.

Young Justice: Season One

W E I S M A N S T R E E T M A L L

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^{July 3rd, 2020 | 3:31p.m. | Happy Harbour, Rhode Island}

Jokerz? Why'd it have to be Jokerz?

Stephanie Brown could have sworn she had left Gotham behind by coming to Happy Harbour. The air here didn't reek of pollution, the atmosphere was darkened by smog from ancient coal factors and the ambiance wasn't set by leaking steam pipes beneath the city's aged cobblestone sidewalks. No, this was a tourist town, sun, surf, and sand.

So why the hell are there Jokerz here?

Springing into action, the current Batgirl moved quickly to help Hellfire, one of the Bat's other protégés, the one that he actually liked that was. Last Steph remembered Andy wasn't the one to plunge Gotham into an all-out gang war. Still, at least Barbara had seen potential in her, enough to give her the honor of bearing her old mantle.

"If the boy's scared for his first time, chances are you're doing it wrong, girlfriend." Steph chimed in as she pulled a pair of batarangs from her belt's pouch. Taking the two weapons, she seemingly broke them in half before mixing the two halves together to create two new batarangs. Babs had made some significant upgrades to the Dark Knight's original designs, Steph's batarangs came in a large variety of effects and Babs had figured out how to allow her to mix and match the effects for a certain degree of unpredictability.

"Also, what's up with there being like 'brunch' but no 'brupper'?" She asked making general chatter as she threw the weapons. The first DeeDee managed to cartwheel out of the way but she caught the second as an electrical charge exploded from one half of the batarang, paralyzing DeeDee in place while a slime erupted from the other half to ensure she remained adhered to the spot.

"Like, you guys have no idea how badly I could go for a waffle after this. Can we hit up IHOP or something in about ten when we finish taking out the trash?"

The other DeeDee came in for a swing as Steph reached for her staff, spinning the weapon around in the nick of time to deflect DeeDee's hand away. She was however not expecting the boot to the back of the head as DeeDee cartwheeled past before stopping on her hands to deliver a spinning kick.

"Seriously y'all, is this the Bat can offer? Ain't no one afraid of you honey." DeeDee taunted as Steph regained her footing. "You weigh, what? A hundred pounds soaking wet?"

"That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me" Steph said, her smile evident beneath the cowl as she drew a fist back before releasing it at DeeDee's face. The impact felt good, even better considering the new shock absorption in her gauntlet. No more black and blue knuckles to hide from her mother. Stephanie allowed a triumphant smile to spread across her face as the DeeDee hit the ground. The smile only began to fade when Stephanie realized she had inadvertently sent the girl back towards her twin. The slimed DeeDee wiggled a loose hand as the other DeeDee reached out for it, taking a hold as Stephanie simply spoke a single word.

"Crud"

What had once been two clown girls in what had to be uncomfortable leather 'Daisy Dukes' was now four.

"Awe thanks, Batgirl." The first duplicate said as she took a few steps forward.

"Yeah, now it's a party." A second duplicate stepped forward, a smile spreading from cheek to cheek.

"You know what they say?" An original asked, her tone rhetorical as she began to break free of Batgirl's adhesive.

"The more..." The last finally spoke as the four assembled into an attack position.

"The merrier." The identical girls said in an eerie unison as they descended upon the girl.

Absolute Comics: Rebirth

@Divine Darkness, Spider-Gwen is approved!