webboysurf

DC Universe: Genesis - Justice For All

_{On the Road Again in Texas - Present Day}

Issue 1.01.02: Stagecoach

---

_{Interaction(s): None}

Previously: Issue 1.01.01: Taste of Violence

The van continued to speed down the lonely highway, fields flanking the left and right of the two outlaws. Jason was behind the wheel, his foot pressed firm on the gas. The only people who lived out in these parts were farm workers, and none of them cared much about some shitty van careening down the road. Of course, those farm workers were certainly a ways off the road. Especially as the sun was lowering down over the horizon. The two men in the van remained almost deadly silent, until a strange noise could be heard from the engine. It was a slight rattling, and as Jason looked at the dash, the string of swears he listed were rather crude and specific. All the while, he pulled the steadily drifting van over to the side of the road as it began its natural slowdown to a complete stop. Jason seemed to calm down for a moment as he sat there with his eyes closed and his hands firmly grasping the steering wheel.

"Fuck."

Roy raised his eyebrows, his amused and cocky grin evident by his smug tone that began boiling a rage inside of Jason's chest. "What?"

Jason grunted out through gritted teeth, "We're out of gas."

Roy gave a slow nod, his hands rising to begin a very painstakingly drawn out clap. "Good job, Jason. I told you-"

"Don't you fucking-"

"I told you that-"

"Roy, I suggest you shut the f-"

"You remember like 20 miles ago when we passed-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Jason practically ripped open the door of the van as he fumbled to quickly get out of his seat belt in his frenzy of rage. He slammed the van door shut, it not properly shutting as he heard the frustrating sound of the seat belt getting caught in the way. So, Jason did the logical and polite thing: he opened the driver's side door again, flicked the seat belt back into the interior of the car, and then continued to slam and bash the van door open and closed as he screamed an incoherent and soul-wrenching wail. After an uncomfortably long time spent indulging his anger, Jason finally stopped himself mid slam to gently close the door and walk around to the back of the van, where Roy was sitting in the open bay doors with a sport's drink in hand and a cooler. Roy lifted the drink from his lips and motioned it towards Jason, who quietly nodded. The red-haired outlaw wordlessly opened up the cooler and handed his friend a drink, and the two sat there quietly for a minute. Unsurprisingly, Roy was the first to break the silence.

"So do you want to talk about-"

"Nope."

Roy nodded for a moment up and down, making a clicking noise with his tongue. "Didn't think so."

After an awkward moment of silence, Jason sighed. "My last mission went sideways. Some dude in a red mask beat me into a coma... last thing I remember him saying was something about... Vertigo."

Roy tilts his head for a moment, raising an eyebrow. "Vertigo... You afraid of heights or something?"

Jason shot an annoyed glare to his partner. "I halo jumped to infiltrate Ducal while you sat on your ass covering a mountain pass in the Urals. Do you really think I have vertigo?"

Roy sighs, shaking his head. "Hey, I'm just checking. I don't know what it means either."

The two stared out at the rapidly darkening sky. They didn't have much time until they were left on a fairly deserted road in the middle of farm country with no clear sign of traffic passing by. So, Roy finished up his drink and placed the plastic bottle in a small recycling bag mounted on the inside of the van. Roy looked out over his current home: The left wall of the van when looking in from the back had a pull down bed that, while uncomfortable, would allow for two people to sleep there. The ceiling contained a strange metal contraption that acted as a sort of picnic table with benches. The right wall contained metal cabinets that were locked up fairly tight. While a normal eye wouldn't expect them to be super special, Jason was able to identify the metal as heavy armor plating: the kind of stuff you use on a tank, not a van. Hell, the more Jason looked over the van in his few hours being a passenger in it, the "defensive durability" was more clear. The entire van was covered in the same durable plating, and the tires were the same kind of blow-out resistant tires that Team 7 used on their vehicles. This van wasn't just some hippie van that Roy was living out of: it was a compact mobile fortress. Roy packed up the cooler, climbed into the back of the van to talk towards the front cab, and looked back to Jason. "It's cozy, but it's somewhere to stay for the night. We can figure out our plan in the morning."

"Fine. But no spooning."

Avatar - The Fall of Si Wong City

Damn it Sep, I'm in.

DC Universe: Genesis - Justice For All

_{Some Shithole, Texas, USA - Present Day}

Issue 1.01.01: Taste of Violence

---

_{Interaction(s): None}

Previously: None

"How do you do it? How do you just live like this?"

Sitting across the table from the speaker was a red-headed, lean man in a sleeveless red mechanic's vest. He had on a simple baseball cap with an American flag emblazoned across the front of it, and blue jeans that were ripped and worn around the knees. He was currently in the midst of devouring a triple bacon cheeseburger, juices and sauces dripping down his chin and onto the plate below. Roy Harper set the burger down for a moment, chewing the giant bite of food that he took as he grabbed a napkin from the dispenser on the side of the table to wipe the liquids off his mouth before responding. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jason Todd sighed. He felt out of place in a run-down bar in some basically no-name town in Texas. He was wearing a designer black turtleneck with the sleeves rolled up and black slacks. His hair was carefully constructed and gelled to look somewhat messy. As Roy answered, Jason leaned back in his seat. "How do you not want to get back into the action? You were the best sharpshooter in the business. If you made a call, you could be back in Team 7 in a heartbeat."

Roy plucked another napkin to begin wiping away the sauces on his fingers as he gave a sly smile. "I did my time. Followed orders, had some fun. But you know... I never really saw this country. Traveled around it for competitions, but was never allowed to actually see anything. I've never been to the Alamo, or the Empire State Building. And neither was my dad."

That last word hung in the air for a moment. Despite the distance from his death, that fact still stung Roy. As for Jason, it made him stop in his tracks and rethink what exactly he was asking his former coworker to do for him. And as the two men sat in silence, another sound from outside the bar cut through the awkward silence.

The two men watched the scene unfolding outside. There, a few men with pick-up trucks that were proudly flying the confederate flag pulled up into the parking lot just as a black man in a t-shirt and jeans was walking towards the bar. The confederate-supporters got out of their pick-up and started surrounding the guy, blocking his path to getting into the bar. Jason's eyes narrowed as he watched one of the large men start shoving the victim of their hate.

Jason turned his gaze back to Roy, who was watching his dinner companion with concern.

"I need to use the bathroom."

"Don't."

"Don't what? I need to take a piss."

Roy simply shook his head as Jason stood up from the small two-person table and made his way towards the back of the restaurant. He went into the back of the bar, finding the small closet that was marked as the men's restroom. As soon as he entered and locked the door, Jason looked up towards the ceiling for window near the top of the bathroom. He went to try and lift open the very wide and simple window, only to find it to be a bit stuck. The former spy sighed as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small utility knife. He flicked it open and ran it along the bottom of the window, removing a layer of grime and filth that was keeping the window a bit stuck down. With another attempt, the window was able to swing out. Jason then sighed and quickly jumped up into the air, using his momentum and strength to kick from one wall to the other and then up towards the window sill. He slid himself out from the window and landed behind the bar.

As Jason circled around the side of the bar, he could hear the situation had escalated. He could hear a cry for help as there was grunting and the sound of kicking and groaning. So Jason rushed around the side of the building, his fists clenched and at the ready. As he rounded the corner, about five men were gathered around their victim. They were kicking him in the head, chest, back, and legs. One of them, the one stomping down on the guy's legs trying to break them, shouted out, "Get back on to your ghetto now, boy! This place ain't for your kind."

Jason could feel the rage boiling inside him as he began rushing forward around the corner of the bar. With each kick and hit, he remembered the sensations coursing through his chest, his arms, and his skull. He almost thought the painful sensation in his hand was just a sensory memory until Jason was brought back to reality at the sound of a different voice yelping in pain. One of the racists was clutching the side of his ear as he fell down to the ground over the bloody mess of his victim, and was trying to scramble back onto his feet as his compatriots stared in shock.

The next moments were a blur of adrenaline and pure instinct. When one came in on his right with a right hook, Jason stepped back and provided a small redirecting shove to have the man clock one of his friends in the face. Another came forward trying to tackle the former spy to the ground, but Jason simply stepped to the side and provided a quick kick to the man's knee. The sound of the crunch was satisfying as the Team 7 operator decided to go on the attack in delivering a quick strike to the man he had first attacked in the neck by the time he got to his feet, leaving him choking for air.

While caught up in the chaos of the hand to hand combat, Jason was surprised and petrified with fear as he saw the two other assailants has run back to their trucks and were loading up their shotguns with appropriate shells. He had only a moment to duck back behind another car in the parking lot before the shotguns began firing off in his directions, followed by whooping and hollering. That is, until Jason heard something he wasn't expecting. He heard screams of pain coming from where the two men were firing. As Jason peered around the hood, he saw that the men had been struck by arrows in their shoulders. It didn't take long for Jason to put two and two together, especially when his marksman friend stepped out from around the other corner of the bar holding his bow with an arrow nocked and drawn. Roy turned his gaze towards Jason for a moment and nodded for him to make his way over. The vigilante did so, and began running towards the archer. Without so much as a word, Jason and Roy fled to a beaten up red van and got in. The latter threw van into drive and spun out onto the empty evening road, taking off from the scene of their crime.

Without sharing a single word, the two men knew what they had just done. And they knew that it wouldn't take long before the police were called and the authorities were looking for them.

As far as they were concerned, Jason Todd and Roy Harper were now Outlaws.

DC Universe: Genesis - Justice For All

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

R E D H O O D / A R S E N A L

---

^{_{Jason Todd/Roy Harper ♦ Former CIA and Team 7 Secret Agent/Former Army Ranger and Team 7 Marksman ♦ Texas, USA ♦ Outlaws}}

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

---

^{"You know... they really left us hanging there."}

^{"If we weren't hanging upside down right now, I would punch you."}

What if you removed the mentors from two incredibly flawed former sidekick characters and had them team up and go around the country fighting crime? Well, you would get this take on the Outlaws that I've whipped up. A huge part of Jason Todd's arc as the Red Hood has always been rooted in revenge and pain. Beaten within an inch of his life and managing to survive, Jason takes on a new mantle and enacts bloody revenge on criminals. Roy Harper, on the other hand, is a grounding and inherently funny character. He's always trying to prove that he's a hero despite his past actions and his very, very serious character flaws. These two characters have had their own comics run as a duo, and they work well in the setting of a world much like our own. One in which a country is torn, divided, and in need of unconventional heroes.

Jason Todd, in this iteration, was a CIA operative. He was a poor orphan from the streets of Gotham who wanted to make something of himself... so he took every opportunity he could to become someone. He started out doing simple intelligence gathering when he was recruited by the CIA, learning the arts of infiltration and close quarters combat. His skillset saw him recruited by the elusive group known as Team 7, a U.S. Black Ops team tasked with keeping the world "safe" from all threats. He's been with Team 7 until a fateful event six months ago while infiltrating the League of Assassins (where he had further honed his skills). He was sold out by a member of the League, and taken to a warehouse in Vlatava. There, he was beaten with a crowbar within an inch of his life by an unknown assailant wearing a red hoodie and a simple black mask. He was left for dead, with a simple message: Vertigo sends their regards. Since then, he was discharged from service in Team 7 after psych evaluations have found him to be too vengeful and unstable for active service.

Roy Harper's past is a lot simpler. He was a kid who, from a very young age, had impeccable aim. He learned of his skills in handling a rifle and a bow and arrow at a young age at a Boy Scout camp in rural Oklahoma. He was so good, in fact, that he started to compete in local competitions. Hell, he even became a small legend in the circle of competitive archery, even being slated to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games on behalf of the USA. Unfortunately, his life took him in a different direction when drug tests outed that he was a heroin addict. He lost all respect within the archery community and barely managed to graduate high school as he was sent out to rehab. His life changed when he got clean and met an Army recruiter by happenstance at a bar. It would give Roy exactly what he had always wanted: purpose. He proved himself to be, once again, and amazing marksman. So amazing that he rose through the ranks quickly, before being picked up by Team 7. He served as a designated Marksman for the Team on dangerous assignments, and met Jason Todd through Team 7. About a year ago, though, Roy resigned from his position to take care of his ailing father, who ended up passing only months ago. Since then, Roy has decided to make it his mission to see the country that he fought and bled for. His mission was interrupted when he saw a very familiar face walk into some rundown bar in some barely known one road town in rural Texas.

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:

---

Jason and Roy have one thing in common: they believe deeply in protecting other people. Jason Todd wants answers as to who exactly beat him within an inch of his life, but more importantly wants to find a new purpose. When he reconnects with Roy in a bar and ends up fighting off some men associated with the Aryan Nation, Jason finds a new purpose: removing those racist scum from the face of the Earth. His deeper motivation, though, is an outlet for the anger and rage that is pent up inside as a result of both his injury and his commanding officers' lack of investigation into the matter.

Roy's motivation shifts very quickly within this story. He starts just wanting to see the nation he fought for, since he never really got to actually travel and just see the country for what it was. The problem is that the nation Roy stumbles upon isn't the ideal that he fought for. So, Roy has to pick up his bow once again to fight for a future and the ideal that he had fought for once again: a land of the free, where every man is born equal.

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

---

Team 7

John Lynch: The former leader of Team 7, John Lynch is secretly a telekinetic metahuman. He is a cold and calculating man, and there's more to him than meets the eye.

Slade Wilson: One of the most experienced and toughest soldiers in Team 7, Slade has always been in it for one thing: the glory of combat. However, following his son Jericho falling terminally sick, Slade has been trying to find new ways to make money to save his dying son. Who knows where this has led him...

James Bronson: A hero through and through, James Bronson was an intelligence operator for Team 7 who, following Jason and Roy's escapades, will be tasked with bringing in the two men to answer for their crimes.

The Aryan Nation / Brigade

White Dragon: The leader of the Aryan Brigade as a whole, and secretly a vigilante in Dallas, Texas that targets minorities in particular, William Heller is a highly trained soldier with money lining his pockets. He has taken on the title of "White Dragon" as the head of the Aryan Nation, and uses his money and influence to influence police departments and get his hands on experimental technology to aid in his plan for the extermination of "inferior races." He has even gathered white supremacist metahumans together and spun the press into calling them the "Knights Templar."

Bloodsport:Alex Trent is a highly trained former soldier and known racist, Alex has taken on the codename Bloodsport and led the militarization of the Aryan Brigade branch of the Aryan Nation into an army willing to fight for White Supremacy.

Heatmonger: One of the Aryan Brigade's militant operatives, Heatmonger is a blonde haired woman with experimental flamethrower gauntlets courtesy of one William Heller. She is a member of the "Knights Templar."

Backlash: A metahuman with the ability to elongate his arms and manipulate them to form squid-like tendrils. He is a member of the Knights Templar.

Iron Cross: A metahuman with super strength who serves in the Knights Templar.

Golden Eagle: The only non-metahuman among the Knights Templar, Golden Eagle is a former U.S. Marine turned "vigilante."

Blind Faith: She is not a direct member of the Knights Templar, but is always around when they operate publicly. She has telepathy, and uses her abilities to force people of color to admit to crimes openly that they have never committed.

Their Pasts

Chesire: Jade Nguyen is a member of the League of Assassins, and has been tasked with tracking down Jason Todd and making him answer to the League for his infiltration and "stealing" of trade secrets. By her own right, Jade Nguyen is an incredibly skilled assassin and a brilliant toxicologist. She has killed many of her victims by use of poisons and toxins.

Count Vertigo: Werner Zytle was a brilliant chemist and a member of the Vlatavan royal family... before all of his family was executed publicly in a bloody militaristic coup four years ago. The former Count was nearly killed himself by a sniper bullet after his new steward (Jason Todd in disguise) tricked him into getting in position. Since then, Werner Zytle has taken on an alias (Cecil Adams) and has started up a new crime syndicate called Vertigo. Werner has been cooking up powerful new drugs that have been hitting the streets and using the money he's been gathering to build up his organization until it's strong enough to take back his country... but not before he gets revenge on the people who killed him.

S A M P L E P O S T:

---

Taste of Violence

_{Some Shithole, Texas, USA - Present Day}

Issue 1.01.01: Taste of Violence

---

_{Interaction(s): None}

Previously: None

"How do you do it? How do you just live like this?"

Sitting across the table from the speaker was a red-headed, lean man in a sleeveless red mechanic's vest. He had on a simple baseball cap with an American flag emblazoned across the front of it, and blue jeans that were ripped and worn around the knees. He was currently in the midst of devouring a triple bacon cheeseburger, juices and sauces dripping down his chin and onto the plate below. Roy Harper set the burger down for a moment, chewing the giant bite of food that he took as he grabbed a napkin from the dispenser on the side of the table to wipe the liquids off his mouth before responding. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jason Todd sighed. He felt out of place in a run-down bar in some basically no-name town in Texas. He was wearing a designer black turtleneck with the sleeves rolled up and black slacks. His hair was carefully constructed and gelled to look somewhat messy. As Roy answered, Jason leaned back in his seat. "How do you not want to get back into the action? You were the best sharpshooter in the business. If you made a call, you could be back in Team 7 in a heartbeat."

Roy plucked another napkin to begin wiping away the sauces on his fingers as he gave a sly smile. "I did my time. Followed orders, had some fun. But you know... I never really saw this country. Traveled around it for competitions, but was never allowed to actually see anything. I've never been to the Alamo, or the Empire State Building. And neither was my dad."

That last word hung in the air for a moment. Despite the distance from his death, that fact still stung Roy. As for Jason, it made him stop in his tracks and rethink what exactly he was asking his former coworker to do for him. And as the two men sat in silence, another sound from outside the bar cut through the awkward silence.

The two men watched the scene unfolding outside. There, a few men with pick-up trucks that were proudly flying the confederate flag pulled up into the parking lot just as a black man in a t-shirt and jeans was walking towards the bar. The confederate-supporters got out of their pick-up and started surrounding the guy, blocking his path to getting into the bar. Jason's eyes narrowed as he watched one of the large men start shoving the victim of their hate.

Jason turned his gaze back to Roy, who was watching his dinner companion with concern.

"I need to use the bathroom."

"Don't."

"Don't what? I need to take a piss."

Roy simply shook his head as Jason stood up from the small two-person table and made his way towards the back of the restaurant. He went into the back of the bar, finding the small closet that was marked as the men's restroom. As soon as he entered and locked the door, Jason looked up towards the ceiling for window near the top of the bathroom. He went to try and lift open the very wide and simple window, only to find it to be a bit stuck. The former spy sighed as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small utility knife. He flicked it open and ran it along the bottom of the window, removing a layer of grime and filth that was keeping the window a bit stuck down. With another attempt, the window was able to swing out. Jason then sighed and quickly jumped up into the air, using his momentum and strength to kick from one wall to the other and then up towards the window sill. He slid himself out from the window and landed behind the bar.

As Jason circled around the side of the bar, he could hear the situation had escalated. He could hear a cry for help as there was grunting and the sound of kicking and groaning. So Jason rushed around the side of the building, his fists clenched and at the ready. As he rounded the corner, about five men were gathered around their victim. They were kicking him in the head, chest, back, and legs. One of them, the one stomping down on the guy's legs trying to break them, shouted out, "Get back on to your ghetto now, boy! This place ain't for your kind."

Jason could feel the rage boiling inside him as he began rushing forward around the corner of the bar. With each kick and hit, he remembered the sensations coursing through his chest, his arms, and his skull. He almost thought the painful sensation in his hand was just a sensory memory until Jason was brought back to reality at the sound of a different voice yelping in pain. One of the racists was clutching the side of his ear as he fell down to the ground over the bloody mess of his victim, and was trying to scramble back onto his feet as his compatriots stared in shock.

The next moments were a blur of adrenaline and pure instinct. When one came in on his right with a right hook, Jason stepped back and provided a small redirecting shove to have the man clock one of his friends in the face. Another came forward trying to tackle the former spy to the ground, but Jason simply stepped to the side and provided a quick kick to the man's knee. The sound of the crunch was satisfying as the Team 7 operator decided to go on the attack in delivering a quick strike to the man he had first attacked in the neck by the time he got to his feet, leaving him choking for air.

While caught up in the chaos of the hand to hand combat, Jason was surprised and petrified with fear as he saw the two other assailants has run back to their trucks and were loading up their shotguns with appropriate shells. He had only a moment to duck back behind another car in the parking lot before the shotguns began firing off in his directions, followed by whooping and hollering. That is, until Jason heard something he wasn't expecting. He heard screams of pain coming from where the two men were firing. As Jason peered around the hood, he saw that the men had been struck by arrows in their shoulders. It didn't take long for Jason to put two and two together, especially when his marksman friend stepped out from around the other corner of the bar holding his bow with an arrow nocked and drawn. Roy turned his gaze towards Jason for a moment and nodded for him to make his way over. The vigilante did so, and began running towards the archer. Without so much as a word, Jason and Roy fled to a beaten up red van and got in. The latter threw van into drive and spun out onto the empty evening road, taking off from the scene of their crime.

Without sharing a single word, the two men knew what they had just done. And they knew that it wouldn't take long before the police were called and the authorities were looking for them.

As far as they were concerned, Jason Todd and Roy Harper were now Outlaws.

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

---

WIP

DC Universe: Genesis - Justice For All

Provided a sample for this.

X-Men: The New Era - Avalon Rising

Nikolai "Demo" Markov

---

Ashford Institute for the Gifted

Interactions: @Chev @Almalthia

Mentions: Open

---

---

Nik's heart stopped as he heard the noise from behind him. Even when clearing her throat, Nik could recognize her presence. He stopped for a brief moment that felt like an eternity, his mind racing. He knew he would have to face her eventually... but after the things that had happened the night before, he wasn't sure what to think or feel. He had always known, to some extent, that she was dangerous. It's just that before this she was dangerous in the fun kind of way. It had taken him quite some time to clean off the shards of glass from the cuts on his shoulder.

But at the end of the day, it was Una. And that look in her eyes was heartbreaking. For the first time since the night before, a new thought had crossed his mind. How the Hell do you think she feels about all this?

So Nik gave a small smile to his partner in crime and sauntered over, holding out his hand to take hers. And he really hoped that she hadn't heard all that Breakfast Club stuff. Or at the very least that she disagreed with his character assessments.

DC Universe: Genesis - Justice For All

Still have to churn out a sample post... but I figured I couldn't let Andy have all the fun when it came to power duos.

The Outlaws

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

R E D H O O D / A R S E N A L

---

^{_{Jason Todd/Roy Harper ♦ Former CIA and Team 7 Secret Agent/Former Army Ranger and Team 7 Marksman ♦ Texas, USA ♦ Outlaws}}

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

---

^{"You know... they really left us hanging there."}

^{"If we weren't hanging upside down right now, I would punch you."}

What if you removed the mentors from two incredibly flawed former sidekick characters and had them team up and go around the country fighting crime? Well, you would get this take on the Outlaws that I've whipped up. A huge part of Jason Todd's arc as the Red Hood has always been rooted in revenge and pain. Beaten within an inch of his life and managing to survive, Jason takes on a new mantle and enacts bloody revenge on criminals. Roy Harper, on the other hand, is a grounding and inherently funny character. He's always trying to prove that he's a hero despite his past actions and his very, very serious character flaws. These two characters have had their own comics run as a duo, and they work well in the setting of a world much like our own. One in which a country is torn, divided, and in need of unconventional heroes.

Jason Todd, in this iteration, was a CIA operative. He was a poor orphan from the streets of Gotham who wanted to make something of himself... so he took every opportunity he could to become someone. He started out doing simple intelligence gathering when he was recruited by the CIA, learning the arts of infiltration and close quarters combat. His skillset saw him recruited by the elusive group known as Team 7, a U.S. Black Ops team tasked with keeping the world "safe" from all threats. He's been with Team 7 until a fateful event six months ago while infiltrating the League of Assassins (where he had further honed his skills). He was sold out by a member of the League, and taken to a warehouse in Vlatava. There, he was beaten with a crowbar within an inch of his life by an unknown assailant wearing a red hoodie and a simple black mask. He was left for dead, with a simple message: Vertigo sends their regards. Since then, he was discharged from service in Team 7 after psych evaluations have found him to be too vengeful and unstable for active service.

Roy Harper's past is a lot simpler. He was a kid who, from a very young age, had impeccable aim. He learned of his skills in handling a rifle and a bow and arrow at a young age at a Boy Scout camp in rural Oklahoma. He was so good, in fact, that he started to compete in local competitions. Hell, he even became a small legend in the circle of competitive archery, even being slated to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games on behalf of the USA. Unfortunately, his life took him in a different direction when drug tests outed that he was a heroin addict. He lost all respect within the archery community and barely managed to graduate high school as he was sent out to rehab. His life changed when he got clean and met an Army recruiter by happenstance at a bar. It would give Roy exactly what he had always wanted: purpose. He proved himself to be, once again, and amazing marksman. So amazing that he rose through the ranks quickly, before being picked up by Team 7. He served as a designated Marksman for the Team on dangerous assignments, and met Jason Todd through Team 7. About a year ago, though, Roy resigned from his position to take care of his ailing father, who ended up passing only months ago. Since then, Roy has decided to make it his mission to see the country that he fought and bled for. His mission was interrupted when he saw a very familiar face walk into some rundown bar in some barely known one road town in rural Texas.

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:

---

Jason and Roy have one thing in common: they believe deeply in protecting other people. Jason Todd wants answers as to who exactly beat him within an inch of his life, but more importantly wants to find a new purpose. When he reconnects with Roy in a bar and ends up fighting off some men associated with the Aryan Nation, Jason finds a new purpose: removing those racist scum from the face of the Earth. His deeper motivation, though, is an outlet for the anger and rage that is pent up inside as a result of both his injury and his commanding officers' lack of investigation into the matter.

Roy's motivation shifts very quickly within this story. He starts just wanting to see the nation he fought for, since he never really got to actually travel and just see the country for what it was. The problem is that the nation Roy stumbles upon isn't the ideal that he fought for. So, Roy has to pick up his bow once again to fight for a future and the ideal that he had fought for once again: a land of the free, where every man is born equal.

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

---

Team 7

John Lynch: The former leader of Team 7, John Lynch is secretly a telekinetic metahuman. He is a cold and calculating man, and there's more to him than meets the eye.

Slade Wilson: One of the most experienced and toughest soldiers in Team 7, Slade has always been in it for one thing: the glory of combat. However, following his son Jericho falling terminally sick, Slade has been trying to find new ways to make money to save his dying son. Who knows where this has led him...

James Bronson: A hero through and through, James Bronson was an intelligence operator for Team 7 who, following Jason and Roy's escapades, will be tasked with bringing in the two men to answer for their crimes.

The Aryan Nation / Brigade

White Dragon: The leader of the Aryan Brigade as a whole, and secretly a vigilante in Dallas, Texas that targets minorities in particular, William Heller is a highly trained soldier with money lining his pockets. He has taken on the title of "White Dragon" as the head of the Aryan Nation, and uses his money and influence to influence police departments and get his hands on experimental technology to aid in his plan for the extermination of "inferior races." He has even gathered white supremacist metahumans together and spun the press into calling them the "Knights Templar."

Bloodsport:Alex Trent is a highly trained former soldier and known racist, Alex has taken on the codename Bloodsport and led the militarization of the Aryan Brigade branch of the Aryan Nation into an army willing to fight for White Supremacy.

Heatmonger: One of the Aryan Brigade's militant operatives, Heatmonger is a blonde haired woman with experimental flamethrower gauntlets courtesy of one William Heller. She is a member of the "Knights Templar."

Backlash: A metahuman with the ability to elongate his arms and manipulate them to form squid-like tendrils. He is a member of the Knights Templar.

Iron Cross: A metahuman with super strength who serves in the Knights Templar.

Golden Eagle: The only non-metahuman among the Knights Templar, Golden Eagle is a former U.S. Marine turned "vigilante."

Blind Faith: She is not a direct member of the Knights Templar, but is always around when they operate publicly. She has telepathy, and uses her abilities to force people of color to admit to crimes openly that they have never committed.

Their Pasts

Chesire: Jade Nguyen is a member of the League of Assassins, and has been tasked with tracking down Jason Todd and making him answer to the League for his infiltration and "stealing" of trade secrets. By her own right, Jade Nguyen is an incredibly skilled assassin and a brilliant toxicologist. She has killed many of her victims by use of poisons and toxins.

Count Vertigo: Werner Zytle was a brilliant chemist and a member of the Vlatavan royal family... before all of his family was executed publicly in a bloody militaristic coup four years ago. The former Count was nearly killed himself by a sniper bullet after his new steward (Jason Todd in disguise) tricked him into getting in position. Since then, Werner Zytle has taken on an alias (Cecil Adams) and has started up a new crime syndicate called Vertigo. Werner has been cooking up powerful new drugs that have been hitting the streets and using the money he's been gathering to build up his organization until it's strong enough to take back his country... but not before he gets revenge on the people who killed him.

S A M P L E P O S T:

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Taste of Violence

_{Some Shithole, Texas, USA - Present Day}

Issue 1.01.01: Taste of Violence

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_{Interaction(s): None}

Previously: None

"How do you do it? How do you just live like this?"

Sitting across the table from the speaker was a red-headed, lean man in a sleeveless red mechanic's vest. He had on a simple baseball cap with an American flag emblazoned across the front of it, and blue jeans that were ripped and worn around the knees. He was currently in the midst of devouring a triple bacon cheeseburger, juices and sauces dripping down his chin and onto the plate below. Roy Harper set the burger down for a moment, chewing the giant bite of food that he took as he grabbed a napkin from the dispenser on the side of the table to wipe the liquids off his mouth before responding. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jason Todd sighed. He felt out of place in a run-down bar in some basically no-name town in Texas. He was wearing a designer black turtleneck with the sleeves rolled up and black slacks. His hair was carefully constructed and gelled to look somewhat messy. As Roy answered, Jason leaned back in his seat. "How do you not want to get back into the action? You were the best sharpshooter in the business. If you made a call, you could be back in Team 7 in a heartbeat."

Roy plucked another napkin to begin wiping away the sauces on his fingers as he gave a sly smile. "I did my time. Followed orders, had some fun. But you know... I never really saw this country. Traveled around it for competitions, but was never allowed to actually see anything. I've never been to the Alamo, or the Empire State Building. And neither was my dad."

That last word hung in the air for a moment. Despite the distance from his death, that fact still stung Roy. As for Jason, it made him stop in his tracks and rethink what exactly he was asking his former coworker to do for him. And as the two men sat in silence, another sound from outside the bar cut through the awkward silence.

The two men watched the scene unfolding outside. There, a few men with pick-up trucks that were proudly flying the confederate flag pulled up into the parking lot just as a black man in a t-shirt and jeans was walking towards the bar. The confederate-supporters got out of their pick-up and started surrounding the guy, blocking his path to getting into the bar. Jason's eyes narrowed as he watched one of the large men start shoving the victim of their hate.

Jason turned his gaze back to Roy, who was watching his dinner companion with concern.

"I need to use the bathroom."

"Don't."

"Don't what? I need to take a piss."

Roy simply shook his head as Jason stood up from the small two-person table and made his way towards the back of the restaurant. He went into the back of the bar, finding the small closet that was marked as the men's restroom. As soon as he entered and locked the door, Jason looked up towards the ceiling for window near the top of the bathroom. He went to try and lift open the very wide and simple window, only to find it to be a bit stuck. The former spy sighed as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small utility knife. He flicked it open and ran it along the bottom of the window, removing a layer of grime and filth that was keeping the window a bit stuck down. With another attempt, the window was able to swing out. Jason then sighed and quickly jumped up into the air, using his momentum and strength to kick from one wall to the other and then up towards the window sill. He slid himself out from the window and landed behind the bar.

As Jason circled around the side of the bar, he could hear the situation had escalated. He could hear a cry for help as there was grunting and the sound of kicking and groaning. So Jason rushed around the side of the building, his fists clenched and at the ready. As he rounded the corner, about five men were gathered around their victim. They were kicking him in the head, chest, back, and legs. One of them, the one stomping down on the guy's legs trying to break them, shouted out, "Get back on to your ghetto now, boy! This place ain't for your kind."

Jason could feel the rage boiling inside him as he began rushing forward around the corner of the bar. With each kick and hit, he remembered the sensations coursing through his chest, his arms, and his skull. He almost thought the painful sensation in his hand was just a sensory memory until Jason was brought back to reality at the sound of a different voice yelping in pain. One of the racists was clutching the side of his ear as he fell down to the ground over the bloody mess of his victim, and was trying to scramble back onto his feet as his compatriots stared in shock.

The next moments were a blur of adrenaline and pure instinct. When one came in on his right with a right hook, Jason stepped back and provided a small redirecting shove to have the man clock one of his friends in the face. Another came forward trying to tackle the former spy to the ground, but Jason simply stepped to the side and provided a quick kick to the man's knee. The sound of the crunch was satisfying as the Team 7 operator decided to go on the attack in delivering a quick strike to the man he had first attacked in the neck by the time he got to his feet, leaving him choking for air.

While caught up in the chaos of the hand to hand combat, Jason was surprised and petrified with fear as he saw the two other assailants has run back to their trucks and were loading up their shotguns with appropriate shells. He had only a moment to duck back behind another car in the parking lot before the shotguns began firing off in his directions, followed by whooping and hollering. That is, until Jason heard something he wasn't expecting. He heard screams of pain coming from where the two men were firing. As Jason peered around the hood, he saw that the men had been struck by arrows in their shoulders. It didn't take long for Jason to put two and two together, especially when his marksman friend stepped out from around the other corner of the bar holding his bow with an arrow nocked and drawn. Roy turned his gaze towards Jason for a moment and nodded for him to make his way over. The vigilante did so, and began running towards the archer. Without so much as a word, Jason and Roy fled to a beaten up red van and got in. The latter threw van into drive and spun out onto the empty evening road, taking off from the scene of their crime.

Without sharing a single word, the two men knew what they had just done. And they knew that it wouldn't take long before the police were called and the authorities were looking for them.

As far as they were concerned, Jason Todd and Roy Harper were now Outlaws.

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

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WIP

DC Universe: Genesis - Justice For All

Not gonna submit an app for anything until I'm in a better place to flesh out the story I'm thinking on... But I've got something in the works. Stay Tuned.

Star Wars: Legacies (Always Open)

Jaysin Lyr

_{The Jedi Praxeum - Yavin IV}

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Jaysin nodded towards the flight crew helping to prep the HWK-290 Light Frieghter for take-off as he readjusted the shoulder strap of his traveling pack. The Jedi Knight always traveled light, a byproduct of years of hiding. He had only brought with him his bare essentials: rations, his lightsabers, extra cold weather gear, and a set of electrobinoculars. Of course, he usually also had at least one constant companion.

As if on cue, an older R3 droid zoomed down the loading ramp of the HWK, whirring and chirping up a storm as the Jedi Knight approached. The R3 droid was whirring about the same thing, over and over, for a couple days now. \ Frozen wastelands... best location for landing... Planes Southwest of the Jedi Sanctuary... Plotting flight coordinates... / Jaysin simply sighed as he approached his long time companion, kneeling down next to the droid as it stopped in front of him.

"R3... I need you to remain calm, old friend. Upload your flight plan to the on-board computer, and then power yourself down. I'll wake you when we arrive." R3 seemed to be a tiny bit more calm as he slowly rolled his way back onto the ship, and Jaysin rose back to his feet. However, he could instinctively detect a presence behind him. "Shass..."

The Mirialan walked past Jaysin and towards the loading ramp of the freighter, carrying two large traveling packs with her. The Jedi Knight quickly stepped forward and blocked the padawan's path, holding a hand out as a motion for her to stop. "It's just a brief recon mission. You need-"

"To make sure you don't get into too much trouble, I know." The Mirialan gave Jaysin a stern look as she walked past the Jedi Knight and into the freighter, speaking over her shoulder. "You know I'm ready to go out on assignments."

Jaysin shook his head as he walked into the freighter behind the padawan, setting his pack down in the cargo hold. "I know you're ready... it's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's not my decision, Shass. Master Skywalker will-"

"Master Skywalker will forgive us."

The two Jedi stood motionless for a moment before they both moved in clockwork without a word. They both made their way to the cockpit, with Jaysin taking the pilot's chair and Shass taking the co-pilot's seat. R3 was already powered down in the corner, and Jaysin gave a nod towards the flight crew that were giving the thumbs up from down below. And so, the Jedi Knight began tapping buttons and flipping switches as the loading ramp closed and the freighter slowly began to lift off the ground as the journey to rediscover Illum began.

X-Men: The New Era - Avalon Rising

Nikolai "Demo" Markov

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Ashford Institute for the Gifted

Interactions: @Chev

Mentions: Lots of Peeps

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Nik shoved his hands into his pockets as he finally got the student to slow down. He took a moment to catch his breath before removing one hand to smooth back his hair, giving a sort of awkward chuckle. "Hey, don't worry about it. Takes all of us time to learn how to use our powers."

The mutant paused for a moment as he looked back towards the Danger room, a smile creeping on his face as he turned back to face Daniela. "Name's Nik. I'm sort of the Emilio Estevez of our little Breakfast Club here. The redhead back there is kind of the Molly Ringwald, Una. Of Course Jasper and Drake both seem to be going for the Judd Nelson spot, and Heidi is the Anthony Michael Hall..." His voice faded out as he got lost in his train of thought for a moment, before he just shook his head. "Point is, we're all a bunch of misfits in some way or another. But we're all in this together. So why don't we go back and meet the others?" With those encouraging words, Nik stood with an eyebrow raised and a thumb extended back towards the danger room as he waited to see how Daniela reacted.