Morden Man

Maximum Comics: Dawn of Justice | REBRANDING - PLEASE STAY TUNED

Bucky staggered backwards and smiled appreciatively at the punch. It was clear from her form that Carter had been through some vigorous training but there was no training on Earth that could compare to fighting alongside Steve. From the sounds of it she was a talker too, Bucky liked talkers, they were too busy trying to think up stupid quips to realise when they were in over her head. For all her bluster, Stephanie was in over her head. She just hadn't realised it yet.

He bounded towards Stephanie's and threw a punch towards her face with her left arm which she parried away easily. She was fast, almost too fast to believe, but Bucky had seen faster before. He launched the full power of left arm, its true composition hidden by the arm of his uniform, and it came down on Stephanie's ribs with a heavy crunch. She stepped back a few paces and Bucky was after her again.

As he approached her a thin smile appeared on Bucky's lips. "You're quick, girl, but not quick enough."

Bucky threw a vicious side kick in her direction and it hit Stephanie in the chest and knocked her back a few steps. She looked up at him, the playfulness that had been present on her face previously had all but gone, and her deep blue eyes became leaden with malice.

Maximum Comics: Dawn of Justice | REBRANDING - PLEASE STAY TUNED

This game and continuity already exists. Things have been established, certain parameters have been set, and the "world" the game takes place in as it stands cannot accommodate an influx of characters that would mandate a fair amount of that to be changed after the fact without people's informed consent going in.

I don't have a problem with a game wherein Western comics and Manga exist side by side but I don't see why a pre-existing game needs to change to accommodate that. If the demand for such a game exists, make that game and people will apply for it.

This shouldn't need to be said. If there's a market for this, as people seem to think there is, be confident enough to make a separate game and let it stand on its merits.

Maximum Comics: Dawn of Justice | REBRANDING - PLEASE STAY TUNED

March 20th, 2005
18:05pm

Nick Fury leant against his desk and rubbed his sore neck with a heavy sigh. As soon as he'd come to he'd dispatched SHIELD agents to Sharon Carter's home in New York and frozen Stephanie's bank account. The first twenty-four hours after someone went underground were crucial and when that person happened to have Abraham Erskine's super soldier serum coursing through their veins they were even more important. If they didn't find Stephanie soon she'd be a ghost. She was too well-trained otherwise. Her mother Sharon was Stephanie's blind spot. Fury wasn't close with Stephanie, even less so after he'd told her about her being passed over, but he knew her well enough to know that she'd be going there first thing.

The doors to Nick Fury's office opened and through it stepped James Buchanan Barnes, or Bucky as the world had known him, though now he was something else. He was Captain America. He stood before him in a uniform that had been heavily altered to meet Bucky's specifications but that looked ever bit as iconic as Steve's had looked. The helm and the breastplate resembled the original but Barnes had insisted they make the rest black. His boots and trousers were black and most notably he had asked for two additions: a knife on one hip and a Luger on the other one. Fury liked it. It was practical, stealthier than the original, and it made sense for Barnes to want to blaze his own trail.

Fury smiled at him as the two locked eyes. "How does it feel?"

"Honestly?" Barnes said uncomfortably. "It feels like... like when I was sixteen and used to put my dad's old uniform on so I could sneak to the bar a few clicks out of Camp Lehigh where all the guys went during their downtime. I feel like an impostor, Fury, like any second Steve is going to turn up and tell me to stop being an idiot and take this damn thing off."

Director Fury nodded. "Yeah, well give it time and you'll feel weird when you're not wearing that thing. First things first though you're going to have to head to New York and get the shield back. What good is Captain America without a shield?"

It wasn't the shield that made a man Captain America, Bucky thought to himself with a glib smile, it was more than that. A scrawny nobody from Brooklyn that had been beaten on his entire life turned into the greatest leader the world has ever seen. That had nothing to do with the serum or the shield and everything to do with Steve. Bucky knew he was stepping into some big shoes, knew he'd never been and never would be half the man that Steve had been, but the world needed him to try to be.

"How fond are you of this Stephanie Carter?" Bucky said grumpily. "Do I have to bring her back in one piece?"

Fury let out a little laugh. "She's Sharon Carter's daughter, Barnes, and that name means something around these parts. Get the shield back, make sure she learns her lesson, but try not the murder the poor girl."

Bucky nodded and strode out of Fury's office. Stephanie Carter, former SHIELD agent, Sharon Carter's daughter turned traitor. Something didn't sit right with Bucky about this. It felt like there was more going on here that met the eye. He'd been unable to shake that feeling since the moment he'd opened his eyes in the Triskelion medical lab. He pushed his doubts to the back of his mind and made his way to the roof where a helicopter was waiting for him. The pilot looked round at him as he climbed in with an astonished look on his face. Bucky supposed he'd have to get used to those.

*****

19:20pm

Bucky peered through a pair of tiny binoculars into Sharon Carter's apartment to check it was still secure. Sharon sat at a table, the agents were dotted around the room all looking anxious, when the wrong began to ring. She reached out for it and pressed it against her ear and began to speak. Bucky had been staking Carter's apartment out from a rooftop two blocks down and upon seeing the old woman beginning to speak began to scan the alleyways around it. Stephanie Carter was here. He knew it.

There. A tall blonde in a leather jacket with a phone pressed against her ear was walking away from the apartment. She was dressed down and would have been completely innocuous to someone with less experience than Bucky had. Where was she going? She had to have some escape route. Barnes leapt across a rooftop and fell short of the opposite one by some way but managed to grab a hold using his metal arm. Who knew sleeping for sixty years would make you a little rusty? He pulled himself up and continued to look around.

Then he spotted it. A covered bike hidden away out of sight. He burst into movement, sprinting towards the alley as he saw Carter pick up her pace, before finally making it into the mouth of the alley to hem Carter in.

She grabbed the shield, tore off her jacket to reveal the blue suit underneath, and turned to face him. “So Fury sent you, huh? Well, he’s at least serious about this then. Good. Once I send his lapdog back to him, maybe he’ll realize I was right. Because you are not taking this shield from me.”

Bucky shook his head gravely at her words. "I'm nobody's lapdog. And that shield doesn't belong to you."

He unholstered the Luger on his hip, cocked it, and pointed it in Stephanie's direction. She stared at him. It wasn't the first time she'd had a gun pointed at her from the defiance in her eyes. Good, Bucky thought, he didn't want he scared. He needed to blow off some steam and though he'd promised Fury he wouldn't hurt her too badly he hadn't said anything about not blowing her kneecap out.

"One chance, Carter, hand me the shield or I'll put you down for good."

Maximum Comics: Dawn of Justice | REBRANDING - PLEASE STAY TUNED

*sigh*

So, moving on. Dutch certainly has brought up some decent points and I'm tired so I don't know where I completely stand.

@Gowi

I'm cool with it.

It's good that we've had the discussion but I think you've been clear from the beginning that you'll take things at a case by case basis. I don't see that George Smiley ought to be an issue, especially given that (by extension) SHIELD is the corner of the IC universe that has the most impact on the character I'm playing and I'm fine with it.

Maximum Comics: Dawn of Justice | REBRANDING - PLEASE STAY TUNED

@Morden Man@HenryJonesJrI see two chumps who can't hit the mark but I. Never. Miss.

@Kal-El

You want a piece of the Nature Boy? Fill in a character sheet and join the queue, fella.

Maximum Comics: Dawn of Justice | REBRANDING - PLEASE STAY TUNED

I expect that Flair app post haste.

@Byrd Man

| Identity |
Ric Flair, better known as “The Nature Boy” or “Slick Rick”

| Origin & Backstory |
Flair was born in Memphis, Tennessee and adopted by German-American parents before settling in Minnesota. Flair excelled in athletics at school and eventually earned a scholarship to Minnesota University where he would letter in wrestling. One evening whilst working as a bouncer in Minnesota a chance meeting with the Greek god Hercules would set Flair on a path that would change his life. The drunken Hercules challenged Flair to a wrestling match for all of St. Paul to see and Flair managed to unseat Hercules for a few seconds, a feat no man has matched before or since, which earned the Prince of Power’s admiration. Buoyed by this great victory Flair would go on to become the greatest super-wrestler the world had ever seen.

| Attributes |
Being a styling, profiling, limousine riding, jet flying, kiss stealing, wheeling and dealing son of a gun.

| Character Notes |
Sometimes has trouble holding his alligators down.

| Character Goals |
To take every last one of you pretty little things to Space Mountain and back. Provided you're eighteen and over.

| References |

Maximum Comics: Dawn of Justice | REBRANDING - PLEASE STAY TUNED

Bucky's gonna get his ass whooped, Modern Man!

@HenryJonesJr

By some entitled brat that's never had to work for a thing in her life? Bring it on.

Here we go:

| Identity |
George Smiley, Deputy Director of SHIELD

| Origin & Backstory |

George Smiley was born in England to an upper middle-class family in the early 50's. After attending public school, Smiley's academic track record proved successful enough to win him entry into Oxford. While at Oxford he studied foreign languages, Russian and German especially, along with political affairs. One of his teachers turned out to be a talent scout for British intelligence and Smiley was recruited to join the organization with many names - SIS, MI6, and as Smiley came to call it, the Circus.

Smiley worked throughout Europe as an intelligence officer in the 70's and early 80's. Under the guise of an intellectual lecturer, Smiley would travel behind the Iron Curtain and act as a cutout for Western spies working against the Soviet Union. Smiley's work in and out of the field earned him promotions up the ladder until he was head of the Circus' intelligence directorate and right-hand man to M, head of the Circus. In 1986, junior officer Percy Alleline discovered a dynamite source of Soviet intelligence. Codenamed Gerald, a big figure inside the Soviet power structure was delivering the Circus dynamite intelligence and marked Percy as a man on the come. Slowly, Smiley and M began to notice that their spies and contacts were disappearing all over Europe. One by one, the lights of intelligence were going out just as Gerald was sinking his hooks into the Circus. The two men suspected Gerald was a sleight of hand, a move by the Russian spymaster Karla, and that there was a mole in the Circus. M and Smiley planned an op behind the Iron Curtain to find the mole that went horribly wrong, the undercover British agent trapped behind enemy lines and tortured by the Soviets before being let go. M was fired and Smiley retired from the Circus.

Enter 1989. Even though the USSR and the Soviet Bloc was beginning to crumble, Karla held firm to his mole. A rogue spy involved with a Russian agent discovered information that there was indeed a mole in the Circus and the foreign secretary brought Smiley back for one job: find the mole. After a twisting and winding path, Smiley found the truth out about Gerald, the mole inside the Circus, and saw that they were dispatched ruthlessly. Smiley took over the Circus as the new M and initiated a war with Karla that ended with the spymaster's shadow empire coming down just as the Soviet Union collapsed. The Cold War was over. Smiley's crusade was over and he retired for a second time.

Now, after ten years in retirement, Smiley is called again to serve. This time not by the British, but the Americans. Nick Fury, an old friend, has taken over as Director of SHIELD and he needs help, he needs a man who can handle intelligence operations and can take care of enemies without remorse. George Smiley is the perfect man for the job.

| Attributes |

Physically, Smiley is wholly average - maybe a bit below because of his age - and is not in the best shape. Intellectually, he has a brilliant mind that can see patterns and angles that very few can.

| Character Notes |
Nothing really to add. Smiley will be working with SHIELD, so I guess I'll use some SHIELD folks and try and interact with Cap and Nomad.

| Character Goals |

I want to tell spy stories, but not the kind you think of. Morden and Indy can do the fantastical stuff, I'll handle the nitty gritty. I love John Le Carre and the Smiley character because of how anti-Bond it is. There will be no men in tuxedos making witty retorts, no death lasers, no martinis. This is a story about a man who is asked to do questionable things for the good of the world. Do those decisions take a toll? Or maybe there's nothing left to take a toll on. Maybe George Smiley's conscience died a long time ago.

| References |

Tara Chace - Shaken and Stirred
Precipice of War - A Change is Gonna Come
Fatal Souls - The Skavian Shuffle

@Byrd Man

Maximum Comics: Dawn of Justice | REBRANDING - PLEASE STAY TUNED

You know what else is a secret?

My love for @Gowi.

@Sep

I can understand why you'd want to keep that secret.

Yuck.

Maximum Comics: Dawn of Justice | REBRANDING - PLEASE STAY TUNED

You people and your secrets.

Alright, I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Maximum Comics: Dawn of Justice | REBRANDING - PLEASE STAY TUNED

I feel like I should put it here. Me and my buddy @Natty are making a cross between the Thunderbolts and Suicide Squad.

@Sep

How will that work? By their nature the Suicide Squad are secret and the Thunderbolts are very public. Provided you're talking about the original (by original, read: best) Thunderbolts and not the more farcical incarnations towards the end.