None of you are making me want to finally read through the past seven years of DC comics. Thanks for reaffirming my decision not to.
There have been a handful of titles worth checking out. I was skeptical as hell about Doomsday Clock, but I've gotta admit I'm enjoying it immensely so far. Despite King being awful on Batman, his run on Mister Miracle has been excellent. Jurgens' run on Action Comics was great, and I genuinely loved Super-Sons (and that's coming from an Olympic-level Damian hater).
To what extent do you think this is King's decision? Sometimes I suspect that edicts from above are sometimes responsible for very unpopular twists in stories that threaten to change the status quo of big marque characters – and writers are made to wear those changes as if responsible themselves.
I just find it hard to believe that King – who has been fantastic on a lot of other titles – would suddenly become so tin-eared. But I guess weirder things have happened.
There's a small likelihood that DC told him to nix them going through with it, but there've been alot of signs in the run leading up to the marriage that it'd go down that way - not to mention that it lines up with alot of stupider, edge-lord Batman moments from King's run in the past. As I said the other day, the man just doesn't understand Bruce Wayne, no matter how good of a writer he is on other titles. This unfortunately runs perfectly in line with his mentality of Batman being a character who exists to brood and occasionally be a superhero, rather than the other way around. Hell, the entire arc post-proposal to Selina was about Bruce brooding and explaining why Selina may not want to marry him. It was one of the stupidest things I've read in some time.
The only thing that shocks me about this outcome is that King had Selina be the one to be the one to make the decision, given he's actually done a great job characterizing her prior to this issue. And the new Catwoman series immediately dashed the idea that this is gonna be resolved anytime soon, given she's back to just doing her 'just a thief' thing instead of going on newer, more exciting adventures.
So it's possible DC wanted to make room for the new book or something. But, I also wouldn't be surprised if King planned this all along.
Character You're Applying For: Starjammers Captain Marvel (Diana Prince) Nova (John Stewart) Deadman (Abigail Brand)
Powers and Abilities:
As the daughter of Zeus Diana is demigod, capable of many superhuman feats. Due to her divine nature, Diana possesses vast superhuman strength much stronger than her Amazon sisters and on par with empowered Kryptonians. While not quite as fast as the Flash, Diana can run and fly at considerable superhuman speed, and uses her reflexes to deflect most attacks with her bracelets. Diana reflexes are at peak superhuman level, being fast enough to accurately block speeding bullets being fired at her from multiple angles and at very close range. Diana's advanced Amazon musculature is considerably more efficient than that of a human. As a result, her muscles produce far less fatigue toxins during physical activity compared to those of humans. Her stamina enables her to exert herself at peak capacity for very lengthy periods of time without tiring at all. Diana's skin, muscle, and bone tissues have many times the density of the same tissues in the body of a human being, granting her a strong degree of invulnerability to blunt force trauma, as well as a high resilience to pain. In addition, unlike Superman, she is invulnerable to any type of magic. She is also highly resistant to energy-based attacks. However, Diana can be wounded by bullets, as well as pointed and very sharp objects, to which she is vulnerable. She generally compensates for this, however, by wearing her signature bulletproof bracelets. Despite her astounding resistance to injury, it is possible to injure Diana. However, due to her metabolism, she can heal a few times faster than a normal human. However, she cannot heal from moderate to catastrophic wounds, lost organs or severed limbs and must then resort to a ritual to restore her back to full health. Diana is immune to poison. Diana has the ability to generate fiery orange energy by clashing her bracelets, as well as forceful shockwaves from her body. Due to her being the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta, Diana is an Immortal, capable of living for eternity without visibly aging, with Diana having lived for at least 5,000 years. However, she may be beyond illness, but is definitely not beyond death or destruction. Diana is extremely skilled and formidable hand-to-hand combatant, a master of uniquely Amazon martial arts, as well as an expert in most types of Amazon weapons, though she most frequently uses her bracelets, lasso and sword, with centuries of combat experience. This makes her one of the most powerful individuals in the universe. Like all Amazons, Diana is fluent in hundreds of Earth languages, including English, French, Chinese, Ancient Greek, Ottoman, Sumerian, and German.
As a spirit Abigail can possess other people and is capable of doing whatever they can and limited by their weaknesses. When not possessing someone she can not be seen, heard, or touch anything.
Current Body: has standard powers of a Deviant Skrull
Origin and Backstory (In A Maximum of Four Paragraphs):
During World War I Diana was living on Themyscira. She was horseback riding when a plane crashed into the ocean. She jumped off the cliff and swam out to rescue the pilot. After he was nursed back to health, they discussed the war. She firmly believed that this was the result of Ares and that the Amazons must fulfill their duty and stop him. She was alone in this belief. She stole the sword she always heard referred to as the Godkiller sword. She escaped during the middle of the night. A group of unlikely fighters on an unsanctioned mission fought their way through the front in Belgium they find an airfield that was storing mustard gas to be distributed to the capitals of all the nations fighting against the Germans. After Diana killed the man she originally thought was Ares the real Ares reveals himself. She learns that the Godkiller is not a thing, that a god can only be killed by another god or demigod, that she is the Godkiller. During her battle with Ares she watched one by one as her friends sacrificed themselves to stop the Germans. Trapped she watched the plane with Steve on it explode. The rage & sorrow she felt at the loss of her friends unlocked her full potential. Ares tried to get her to turn that rage against humanity and return the Earth to the paradise it was before humans ruined it. Diana could not the sacrifices her friends made renewed her resolve. Ares enraged at his failure to turn Diana unleashes his full fury, Diana absorbs and redirects the attack back at him killing him. The war did not end, humanity had been corrupted for far to long. She returned to London to inform Etta Candy of Steve’s death, she eventually went to America to inform Steve’s family of his passing.
John Stewart left home to enlist in the United States Marine Corps at a fairly young age. Relatively little is known of John's military service. After leaving the service, John Stewart was selected by a dying Nova to be his replacement. Early in his Corps career, John would train under the veteran Nova Richard Rider.
Abigail was working for S.W.O.R.D. investigating a strange phenomenon when she was caught in a mystical explosion. She died but she can never pass on to the land of the dead. She will remain a disembodied spirit for all eternity. After a year of wondering and trying to get people to hear her she discovered her ability to possess people by accident, she also accidentally discovered a Skrull invader shortly after he landed on Earth. She took over his body and reported back to S.W.O.R.D. of her discovery and fate. They had her take the Skrull’s ship and go back to the Skrull homeworld to report failure, a meteor storm knocked her off course.
After notifying the Trevor family of the death of Steve she wondered the planet for decades looking for meaning and the hope for humanity she saw in her dead friends. She saw almost nothing, but the misery humans caused each other. She eventually abandoned the planet to roam the stars. Eventually she met some of the most unlikely people deep in space, they joined forces to fight for the freedom of those enslaved by the Shi'ar Empire. They joined forces with Lilandra Neramani who was leading a rebellion against her brother the Emperor. After the defeat of the Empoeror and Lilandra crowned Majestrix of the Shi'ar the Starjammers put to a vote what to do next. Diana was outvoted and they set course for Earth.
What Makes This Character 'Ultimate'?: Diana is based on the DCEU version but she has given up on humanity. John is based on the DCAU version but he became a Nova instead. Abigail is not really based on any version of her but she has the powers of Deadman and anyone she possesses. They formed a group to stop slavery and are trying figuring out what to do now they have completed their mission. Do they stay together? Go their separate ways? Form a rock band? Maybe they’ll figure it out maybe they won’t. For now they put all decisions to a vote.
Supporting Characters: Shi'ar Empire Lilandra Neramani Skrulls Nova Corps
This seems kind of like it runs into a similar problem as The Wasp application - it seems built entirely on the premise of amalgamations. Which isn't really what this game is about. Are there further changes to the dynamics you're planning for the story? Like with Abigail Brand being Deadman. That seems to just be out of nowhere, frankly.
I love how the Starjammers, a pirate group from the Marvel Universe, is filled with DC heroes instead. at least give some marvel characters love ;c
There is a theme to my characters.
DC character becomes a Marvel Hero Marvel character become a DC Hero currently in a Marvel villain body.
Its all about mixing and matching DC & Marvel into one neat little pool of gooeyness.
I would have done the group name the same way but couldn't figure out a decent combo. Plus not really familiar with the cosmic stuff in DC & Marvel other than what you see in the movies and tv shows. Only found out about S.W.O.R.D. because I accidentally looked up Boston Brand on marvel.wikia.com and found Abigail Brand who used to be the Director of S.W.O.R.D.
Fun fact: I went with Abigail Brand because she shares the same last name as Bostand Brand.
Under the direction of famed Soviet geneticist ██████████ ██████████ ██████████, Natasha was injected with a Russian variant of the █████████ developed during Project: Rebirth used on ██████████. The serum when injected within the body provided enhanced ██████████, ████████████████████ as well as other ██████████ ██████████. These genetic augmentations have pushed Natasha far beyond the physical limits of an ordinary human being and has even slowed down her aging to a near standstill.
мокрое дело:
Hell wasn't some imaginary place for Natasha, no Hell was very real and was called the Красная комната. While some may argue about the ethics involved in the Red Room’s treatment of children, you couldn't argue with the results. In the world of espionage and wetwork, Natasha might as well of written the book. She’s skilled in several dozen ways to kill somebody from traditional CQC to firearms and everything in between. Beyond straight intimidation, she is well versed in various more subtle ways to gain information through ways such as cybersecurity and straight up seduction to name a few.
Железная воля:
Blades will not break her. Bullets will not break her. Words will not break her. Fear will not break her. Naturally of courageous disposition, the training she had undertaken and several lifetimes over of wetwork experience has bestowed upon Natasha an indomitable will.
Backstory:
According to official records, Natasha was born in █████, Russian SFSR in December of 19██. Natasha would early on find herself orphaned by the German Wehrmacht. Shortly after, she would be later spotted in the company of army captain named ██████ ██████████ ██████████. █████ was reportedly with Natasha up until atomic fire devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ████ would start a successful post war-career working for the КГБ, and it was through here that ██████ ███████ ████████ of █████████ became aware of Natasha. Soon afterwards Natasha would be sent to ██████████ to begin her studies at the Красная комната.
Inducted into the fledgling рограмма ██████████████ Чёрная вдова. Natasha would soon enough become the program’s most promising test subject. During this time she also underwent intense genetic augmentation trials administered by ██████████ ██████████ ██████████, based upon ██████████ recovered by ███████ ██████████ from Project: Rebirth. Eventually in █████, Natasha was deemed ready by her handlers and would be sent into the field..
Natasha would soon find herself pursuing Soviet interests across the globe. Sightings of a red haired women matching her description first appeared in ███████, then ██████████, and within a month as far afield as ███████. Natasha is reported to have worked with some of the USSR’s greatests assists including:██████████ ██████████ ██████████ AKA “Rocket Red”, ██████████ ██████████ ██████████ AKA “Red Guardian”, and perhaps most interestingly ██████████ ██████████ ██████████ AKA “Winter Soldier”. During this time allied agents also reported having hostile engagements with her including: ████ ███████ ██████████ AKA King, and ███████ ████████ ██████ AKA Agent A-1.
After the collapse of the USSR in the late 1990s, Sightings of Natasha have decreased from their peak during the “Golden Years”. From what little information we have gathered, Romanova still works for the ФСБ in some capacity, through in apparently a much more limited fashion saving her deployment for only mission critical assignments. Recently though our eyes in ██████ have picked up sightings of her in ███████. Whatever the reason is, we can be sure that it definitely is not in our interest that she succeeds.
Known Associates:
►Ivan Petrovich Bezukhov ► Dmitri Pushkin ► James Buchanan Barnes ► Kingsley 'King' Faraday ► Yulia Orlova - Deceased ► Ava Anatalya Orlova
What Makes This Character 'Ultimate'?:
I always wanted Natasha the spy epic that she deserved; following wetwork missions, finding herself bit by bit. Yet to my great dismay, I was never able to really make it work. This time though I think I’ve found something that work. My idea is to pull a Last of Us, God of War, Logan, or perhaps my favorite Turner’s thread in Count Zero with Natasha and Ava. (Ava in this verse is a little older being fourteen years old. Also I’ve made her mother Yulia a runaway from the Black Widow Program and a close friend of Natasha.)
Ava will hopefully help facilitate character growth and lead me to more smooth transition to Natasha’s exit from the world of wetwork. Yet beyond that, I hope to use her as a sort of mirror for Natasha to reflect on and in turn reflect upon the themes I want to hit upon. Themes that are best summarized by quoting Faulkner “The past is never dead. It's not even past”. This Natasha is trapped by her past, haunted by it both figuratively and mentally.
And unlike in some tellings of her tale, she won’t crawl out of the quagmire because she fell head over heels for some boy. She’s going to have to do what she does best instead - fight for it.
Sample Post:
The truth is, if old Morzh hadn’t firmly insisted upon his attendance Alexi would never have come to the Національна опера України at all. Alexi was not a member of those fortunate few born into money that could afford to be cultured. His father was a school teacher in a poor village outside of Luhansk and before that his family were mostly made up of simple farmers. He hadn’t been back home in some time, not since the establishment of the Luhansk People's Republic. A problem, if all was right in the world, he would of been dealing with. Instead he was to go to the godforsaken opera.
So there he was, face obscured by the tainted backseat window of his SUV, watching the slow procession of Kyiv traffic. To either side of him sat statuesque in their silence his two bodyguards: Bohdan and Ruslan. Both were dressed like him, fine suits with a concealed layer of kevlar underneath, and he knew that both carried ПКСКs tucked away in unseen holsters. Apparently the two of them had met doing mercenary work during the Second Chechen War. They, along with their two companions that rode in a secondary SUV with his wife Julija were a costly but much needed expense. People who disagreed with the Kremlin didn’t live long in Kiev these days.
It was just the other day after all that Vadzim was killed. Vadzim was a close friend of Ivan’s and worked alongside him in the Братство. They all knew when they started this endeavor that it was going to be dangerous work, but the loss still stuck with Alexi. He wasn’t even able to go to Vadzim funeral; whoever or whatever had killed his friend could still be out there. That was the main reason he agreed to this meeting with Morzh. The man used to run in some very interesting circles before the Collapse. Now everyone and their mother knew that if you needed information on anything or anyone you talked to Morzh.
“Sir, we have arrived.” announced a gruff rockslide of a voice that was Ruslan’s.
“Finally.”
With the efficiency of a well-oiled machine, Bohdan and Ruslan exited the vehicle first and checked the surroundings. When all was thought to be clear Bohdan’s meaty paw rapped against the window three times to signal Alexi to exit. His worn in boots touched upon the slickened sidewalk just outside the Oprea. It was a Wednesday Night, so the pedestrian traffic on Volodymyrska Street wasn’t too terrible, even so the small crowds that did move about made Alexi nervous. He turned to his right to sound of heels clicking against pavement to see Julija approach.
“Shall we head inside dear?” he asked through a forced smile.
“Let’s.” Julija replied as she smoothly hooked her arm with his and turned towards the entrance. Their retitutne of four now folowingly close in a loose square around them.
The National Opera House was an ornate affair. Built in the Neo-Renaissance style during the early 1900s, the building truly captured the image of a Ukraine that was at its cultural peak. In these modern times though the swooping architecture and the gilded accents stood in strange contrast to the world just outside. People died right outside on Volodymyrska either from violence or starvation everyday and parts of the country were still in open revolt, and yet the rich and famous still came to the opera. To be entrained, to be reminded about anything else besides the mess that they themselves were partially responsible for creating. Bread and circuses after all.
“Alexi!” a booming voice called.
Morzh could only be described in appearance, as closely resembling the Odobenus rosmarus, hence the nickname. A large man weighing over one hundred and thirty six kilograms and roughly six feet in height. His face, a consistent shade of flushed pink, was framed by a large red moustache that completely covered his mouth. He sat sprawled out atop a couch in the lobby like some sultan out of the Arabian Nights. Two female companions who were at least half his age sitting with him. He gestured over with a hand whose massive girth was closed around some glass of alcoholic beverage or another.
As Alexi approached Morzh, with a surprising amount of agility for a man his size, rose up to meet him and grasped him in a sweat caked hug.
“I’m so glad that you could make it!” proclaimed Morzh the blunted contours of his round face shifting as he did.
“Of course, anything for you my friend! Besides Julija was glad to have a break from the kids.”
“You woman must be some kind of witch! Three kids and you have a body like that!” Morzh joked as he gestured towards Julija who did her best to politely smile in return. Seemingly bored with the current topic he turned back to Alexi. “And we have a treat tonight! The say the young man playing Max is truly an astonishing sight to behold! He apparently have only just graduated from his classes at Leipzig!”
“You don’t say!” Alexi replied with feigned interest. “We better be going upstairs then! Don’t want to miss the show do we?”
Nodding in agreement, Morzh began to lead the couple up the stairs that lead to the upper levels. As Morzh went into finer details with Julija about the finer details of the upcoming production, Alexi noted the other men that soon began to follow them like hawks. These men were of course part of Morzh’s own private security entourage, and if the rumors Alexi heard were to be believed made up entirely of black ops types. Leading them up flight after flight, Morzh eventually turned left at a landing and lead them to his own private booth, the door already guarded by two more of his men. Julija and his female companions sat down in the row in front of them as Morzh gestured for Alexi to sit next to him in the back row.
From what Alexi had picked up during Morzh’s ranting to Julija, the performance that they were seeing tonight was about a marksman who makes a deal with the devil over magic bullets. A topic which given the current climate of things seemed a little too on the nose for Alexi’s tastes. It didn’t help win him over when he found out that the entire performance was going to be in German. Rolling his eyes as the lights dimmed and curtain opened he watched as the performers began to spin their yarn.
Roughly halfway through the first act, just as the leading man began his aria, Morzh turned his head ever so slightly towards Alexi.
“You did not come here just for your love of the arts Alexi.” his voice whispered with a hint of laughter.
“Is it really that obvious?”
“Yes but do not worry, I am not a man whose ego is easily offended.” Morzh replied with a grin. “I have looked into the “untimely” demise of your friend Vadzim”
“And?’ Alexi replied as he felt his heart pound against his chest.
“What do you know of the Red Room?” Morzh asked curiously.
“The fucking Baba Yaga breeding chamber? Isn’t that place just a tall tale made up by mother’s to get their children to go to bed on time?”
“What if I told you the Red Room was a very real place? That it produces some of the most terrifying creatures to ever be commanded by the Kremlin?” Morzh asked this time his voice flat without any sense of humor within it.
“I would say that your going paranoid in your old age Morzh. To stop playing me like a fool.” Alexi replied trying to surprise the fear that was rising in his voice. His heart was beating faster now. He could feel it in his ears.
“I’m not being paranoid Alexi. You should be though, because if one of those demons is after you it is only a matter of time.” Morzh explained with a cold bluntless as he slowly turned his face back towards the performers on the stage below.
As it so happened Alexi did not hear the faint sounds of Morzh’s guards outside the door being taken out. He did not hear as the soft press of a knife slit open the jugulars of Bohdan and Ruslan. He did notice as Morzh suddenly as if struck by something slumped down in the seat next to him. Alexi never even felt the bullet that killed him. His mind was too preoccupied with the imaginary demons that were soon to be creeping up on him.
---
Natasha watched as the weighted bag containing the knife and the PSS sunk into the dark waters of the Dnieper. She looked up at the few twinkling stars that managed to fight through the light pollution of the city below. She breathed in letting the cool air fill her lungs and waited a moment and then another before letting it release. It felt good.
She pressed a single finger to her left ear.
“This is вдова.” the voice held a icey purity to it unfettered by emotion. It felt almost alien sometimes.
Under the direction of famed Soviet geneticist ██████████ ██████████ ██████████, Natasha was injected with a Russian variant of the █████████ developed during Project: Rebirth used on ██████████. The serum when injected within the body provided enhanced ██████████, ████████████████████ as well as other ██████████ ██████████. These genetic augmentations have pushed Natasha far beyond the physical limits of an ordinary human being and has even slowed down her aging to a near standstill.
мокрое дело:
Hell wasn't some imaginary place for Natasha, no Hell was very real and was called the Красная комната. While some may argue about the ethics involved in the Red Room’s treatment of children, you couldn't argue with the results. In the world of espionage and wetwork, Natasha might as well of written the book. She’s skilled in several dozen ways to kill somebody from traditional CQC to firearms and everything in between. Beyond straight intimidation, she is well versed in various more subtle ways to gain information through ways such as cybersecurity and straight up seduction to name a few.
Железная воля:
Blades will not break her. Bullets will not break her. Words will not break her. Fear will not break her. Naturally of courageous disposition, the training she had undertaken and several lifetimes over of wetwork experience has bestowed upon Natasha an indomitable will.
Backstory:
According to official records, Natasha was born in █████, Russian SFSR in December of 19██. Natasha would early on find herself orphaned by the German Wehrmacht. Shortly after, she would be later spotted in the company of army captain named ██████ ██████████ ██████████. █████ was reportedly with Natasha up until atomic fire devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ████ would start a successful post war-career working for the КГБ, and it was through here that ██████ ███████ ████████ of █████████ became aware of Natasha. Soon afterwards Natasha would be sent to ██████████ to begin her studies at the Красная комната.
Inducted into the fledgling рограмма ██████████████ Чёрная вдова. Natasha would soon enough become the program’s most promising test subject. During this time she also underwent intense genetic augmentation trials administered by ██████████ ██████████ ██████████, based upon ██████████ recovered by ███████ ██████████ from Project: Rebirth. Eventually in █████, Natasha was deemed ready by her handlers and would be sent into the field..
Natasha would soon find herself pursuing Soviet interests across the globe. Sightings of a red haired women matching her description first appeared in ███████, then ██████████, and within a month as far afield as ███████. Natasha is reported to have worked with some of the USSR’s greatests assists including:██████████ ██████████ ██████████ AKA “Rocket Red”, ██████████ ██████████ ██████████ AKA “Red Guardian”, and perhaps most interestingly ██████████ ██████████ ██████████ AKA “Winter Soldier”. During this time allied agents also reported having hostile engagements with her including: ████ ███████ ██████████ AKA King, and ███████ ████████ ██████ AKA Agent A-1.
After the collapse of the USSR in the late 1990s, Sightings of Natasha have decreased from their peak during the “Golden Years”. From what little information we have gathered, Romanova still works for the ФСБ in some capacity, through in apparently a much more limited fashion saving her deployment for only mission critical assignments. Recently though our eyes in ██████ have picked up sightings of her in ███████. Whatever the reason is, we can be sure that it definitely is not in our interest that she succeeds.
Known Associates:
►Ivan Petrovich Bezukhov ► Dmitri Pushkin ► James Buchanan Barnes ► Kingsley 'King' Faraday ► Yulia Orlova - Deceased ► Ava Anatalya Orlova
What Makes This Character 'Ultimate'?:
I always wanted Natasha the spy epic that she deserved; following wetwork missions, finding herself bit by bit. Yet to my great dismay, I was never able to really make it work. This time though I think I’ve found something that work. My idea is to pull a Last of Us, God of War, Logan, or perhaps my favorite Turner’s thread in Count Zero with Natasha and Ava. (Ava in this verse is a little older being fourteen years old. Also I’ve made her mother Yulia a runaway from the Black Widow Program and a close friend of Natasha.)
Ava will hopefully help facilitate character growth and lead me to more smooth transition to Natasha’s exit from the world of wetwork. Yet beyond that, I hope to use her as a sort of mirror for Natasha to reflect on and in turn reflect upon the themes I want to hit upon. Themes that are best summarized by quoting Faulkner “The past is never dead. It's not even past”. This Natasha is trapped by her past, haunted by it both figuratively and mentally.
And unlike in some tellings of her tale, she won’t crawl out of the quagmire because she fell head over heels for some boy. She’s going to have to do what she does best instead - fight for it.
Sample Post:
The truth is, if old Morzh hadn’t firmly insisted upon his attendance Alexi would never have come to the Національна опера України at all. Alexi was not a member of those fortunate few born into money that could afford to be cultured. His father was a school teacher in a poor village outside of Luhansk and before that his family were mostly made up of simple farmers. He hadn’t been back home in some time, not since the establishment of the Luhansk People's Republic. A problem, if all was right in the world, he would of been dealing with. Instead he was to go to the godforsaken opera.
So there he was, face obscured by the tainted backseat window of his SUV, watching the slow procession of Kyiv traffic. To either side of him sat statuesque in their silence his two bodyguards: Bohdan and Ruslan. Both were dressed like him, fine suits with a concealed layer of kevlar underneath, and he knew that both carried ПКСКs tucked away in unseen holsters. Apparently the two of them had met doing mercenary work during the Second Chechen War. They, along with their two companions that rode in a secondary SUV with his wife Julija were a costly but much needed expense. People who disagreed with the Kremlin didn’t live long in Kiev these days.
It was just the other day after all that Vadzim was killed. Vadzim was a close friend of Ivan’s and worked alongside him in the Братство. They all knew when they started this endeavor that it was going to be dangerous work, but the loss still stuck with Alexi. He wasn’t even able to go to Vadzim funeral; whoever or whatever had killed his friend could still be out there. That was the main reason he agreed to this meeting with Morzh. The man used to run in some very interesting circles before the Collapse. Now everyone and their mother knew that if you needed information on anything or anyone you talked to Morzh.
“Sir, we have arrived.” announced a gruff rockslide of a voice that was Ruslan’s.
“Finally.”
With the efficiency of a well-oiled machine, Bohdan and Ruslan exited the vehicle first and checked the surroundings. When all was thought to be clear Bohdan’s meaty paw rapped against the window three times to signal Alexi to exit. His worn in boots touched upon the slickened sidewalk just outside the Oprea. It was a Wednesday Night, so the pedestrian traffic on Volodymyrska Street wasn’t too terrible, even so the small crowds that did move about made Alexi nervous. He turned to his right to sound of heels clicking against pavement to see Julija approach.
“Shall we head inside dear?” he asked through a forced smile.
“Let’s.” Julija replied as she smoothly hooked her arm with his and turned towards the entrance. Their retitutne of four now folowingly close in a loose square around them.
The National Opera House was an ornate affair. Built in the Neo-Renaissance style during the early 1900s, the building truly captured the image of a Ukraine that was at its cultural peak. In these modern times though the swooping architecture and the gilded accents stood in strange contrast to the world just outside. People died right outside on Volodymyrska either from violence or starvation everyday and parts of the country were still in open revolt, and yet the rich and famous still came to the opera. To be entrained, to be reminded about anything else besides the mess that they themselves were partially responsible for creating. Bread and circuses after all.
“Alexi!” a booming voice called.
Morzh could only be described in appearance, as closely resembling the Odobenus rosmarus, hence the nickname. A large man weighing over one hundred and thirty six kilograms and roughly six feet in height. His face, a consistent shade of flushed pink, was framed by a large red moustache that completely covered his mouth. He sat sprawled out atop a couch in the lobby like some sultan out of the Arabian Nights. Two female companions who were at least half his age sitting with him. He gestured over with a hand whose massive girth was closed around some glass of alcoholic beverage or another.
As Alexi approached Morzh, with a surprising amount of agility for a man his size, rose up to meet him and grasped him in a sweat caked hug.
“I’m so glad that you could make it!” proclaimed Morzh the blunted contours of his round face shifting as he did.
“Of course, anything for you my friend! Besides Julija was glad to have a break from the kids.”
“You woman must be some kind of witch! Three kids and you have a body like that!” Morzh joked as he gestured towards Julija who did her best to politely smile in return. Seemingly bored with the current topic he turned back to Alexi. “And we have a treat tonight! The say the young man playing Max is truly an astonishing sight to behold! He apparently have only just graduated from his classes at Leipzig!”
“You don’t say!” Alexi replied with feigned interest. “We better be going upstairs then! Don’t want to miss the show do we?”
Nodding in agreement, Morzh began to lead the couple up the stairs that lead to the upper levels. As Morzh went into finer details with Julija about the finer details of the upcoming production, Alexi noted the other men that soon began to follow them like hawks. These men were of course part of Morzh’s own private security entourage, and if the rumors Alexi heard were to be believed made up entirely of black ops types. Leading them up flight after flight, Morzh eventually turned left at a landing and lead them to his own private booth, the door already guarded by two more of his men. Julija and his female companions sat down in the row in front of them as Morzh gestured for Alexi to sit next to him in the back row.
From what Alexi had picked up during Morzh’s ranting to Julija, the performance that they were seeing tonight was about a marksman who makes a deal with the devil over magic bullets. A topic which given the current climate of things seemed a little too on the nose for Alexi’s tastes. It didn’t help win him over when he found out that the entire performance was going to be in German. Rolling his eyes as the lights dimmed and curtain opened he watched as the performers began to spin their yarn.
Roughly halfway through the first act, just as the leading man began his aria, Morzh turned his head ever so slightly towards Alexi.
“You did not come here just for your love of the arts Alexi.” his voice whispered with a hint of laughter.
“Is it really that obvious?”
“Yes but do not worry, I am not a man whose ego is easily offended.” Morzh replied with a grin. “I have looked into the “untimely” demise of your friend Vadzim”
“And?’ Alexi replied as he felt his heart pound against his chest.
“What do you know of the Red Room?” Morzh asked curiously.
“The fucking Baba Yaga breeding chamber? Isn’t that place just a tall tale made up by mother’s to get their children to go to bed on time?”
“What if I told you the Red Room was a very real place? That it produces some of the most terrifying creatures to ever be commanded by the Kremlin?” Morzh asked this time his voice flat without any sense of humor within it.
“I would say that your going paranoid in your old age Morzh. To stop playing me like a fool.” Alexi replied trying to surprise the fear that was rising in his voice. His heart was beating faster now. He could feel it in his ears.
“I’m not being paranoid Alexi. You should be though, because if one of those demons is after you it is only a matter of time.” Morzh explained with a cold bluntless as he slowly turned his face back towards the performers on the stage below.
As it so happened Alexi did not hear the faint sounds of Morzh’s guards outside the door being taken out. He did not hear as the soft press of a knife slit open the jugulars of Bohdan and Ruslan. He did notice as Morzh suddenly as if struck by something slumped down in the seat next to him. Alexi never even felt the bullet that killed him. His mind was too preoccupied with the imaginary demons that were soon to be creeping up on him.
---
Natasha watched as the weighted bag containing the knife and the PSS sunk into the dark waters of the Dnieper. She looked up at the few twinkling stars that managed to fight through the light pollution of the city below. She breathed in letting the cool air fill her lungs and waited a moment and then another before letting it release. It felt good.
She pressed a single finger to her left ear.
“This is вдова.” the voice held a icey purity to it unfettered by emotion. It felt almost alien sometimes.
Character You're Applying For: Starjammers Captain Marvel (Diana Prince) Nova (John Stewart) Deadman (Abigail Brand)
Powers and Abilities:
As the daughter of Zeus Diana is demigod, capable of many superhuman feats. Due to her divine nature, Diana possesses vast superhuman strength much stronger than her Amazon sisters and on par with empowered Kryptonians. While not quite as fast as the Flash, Diana can run and fly at considerable superhuman speed, and uses her reflexes to deflect most attacks with her bracelets. Diana reflexes are at peak superhuman level, being fast enough to accurately block speeding bullets being fired at her from multiple angles and at very close range. Diana's advanced Amazon musculature is considerably more efficient than that of a human. As a result, her muscles produce far less fatigue toxins during physical activity compared to those of humans. Her stamina enables her to exert herself at peak capacity for very lengthy periods of time without tiring at all. Diana's skin, muscle, and bone tissues have many times the density of the same tissues in the body of a human being, granting her a strong degree of invulnerability to blunt force trauma, as well as a high resilience to pain. In addition, unlike Superman, she is invulnerable to any type of magic. She is also highly resistant to energy-based attacks. However, Diana can be wounded by bullets, as well as pointed and very sharp objects, to which she is vulnerable. She generally compensates for this, however, by wearing her signature bulletproof bracelets. Despite her astounding resistance to injury, it is possible to injure Diana. However, due to her metabolism, she can heal a few times faster than a normal human. However, she cannot heal from moderate to catastrophic wounds, lost organs or severed limbs and must then resort to a ritual to restore her back to full health. Diana is immune to poison. Diana has the ability to generate fiery orange energy by clashing her bracelets, as well as forceful shockwaves from her body. Due to her being the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta, Diana is an Immortal, capable of living for eternity without visibly aging, with Diana having lived for at least 5,000 years. However, she may be beyond illness, but is definitely not beyond death or destruction. Diana is extremely skilled and formidable hand-to-hand combatant, a master of uniquely Amazon martial arts, as well as an expert in most types of Amazon weapons, though she most frequently uses her bracelets, lasso and sword, with centuries of combat experience. This makes her one of the most powerful individuals in the universe. Like all Amazons, Diana is fluent in hundreds of Earth languages, including English, French, Chinese, Ancient Greek, Ottoman, Sumerian, and German.
As a spirit Abigail can possess other people and is capable of doing whatever they can and limited by their weaknesses. When not possessing someone she can not be seen, heard, or touch anything.
Current Body: has standard powers of a Deviant Skrull
Origin and Backstory (In A Maximum of Four Paragraphs):
During World War I Diana was living on Themyscira. She was horseback riding when a plane crashed into the ocean. She jumped off the cliff and swam out to rescue the pilot. After he was nursed back to health, they discussed the war. She firmly believed that this was the result of Ares and that the Amazons must fulfill their duty and stop him. She was alone in this belief. She stole the sword she always heard referred to as the Godkiller sword. She escaped during the middle of the night. A group of unlikely fighters on an unsanctioned mission fought their way through the front in Belgium they find an airfield that was storing mustard gas to be distributed to the capitals of all the nations fighting against the Germans. After Diana killed the man she originally thought was Ares the real Ares reveals himself. She learns that the Godkiller is not a thing, that a god can only be killed by another god or demigod, that she is the Godkiller. During her battle with Ares she watched one by one as her friends sacrificed themselves to stop the Germans. Trapped she watched the plane with Steve on it explode. The rage & sorrow she felt at the loss of her friends unlocked her full potential. Ares tried to get her to turn that rage against humanity and return the Earth to the paradise it was before humans ruined it. Diana could not the sacrifices her friends made renewed her resolve. Ares enraged at his failure to turn Diana unleashes his full fury, Diana absorbs and redirects the attack back at him killing him. The war did not end, humanity had been corrupted for far to long. She returned to London to inform Etta Candy of Steve’s death, she eventually went to America to inform Steve’s family of his passing.
John Stewart left home to enlist in the United States Marine Corps at a fairly young age. Relatively little is known of John's military service. After leaving the service, John Stewart was selected by a dying Nova to be his replacement. Early in his Corps career, John would train under the veteran Nova Richard Rider.
Abigail was working for S.W.O.R.D. investigating a strange phenomenon when she was caught in a mystical explosion. She died but she can never pass on to the land of the dead. She will remain a disembodied spirit for all eternity. After a year of wondering and trying to get people to hear her she discovered her ability to possess people by accident, she also accidentally discovered a Skrull invader shortly after he landed on Earth. She took over his body and reported back to S.W.O.R.D. of her discovery and fate. They had her take the Skrull’s ship and go back to the Skrull homeworld to report failure, a meteor storm knocked her off course.
After notifying the Trevor family of the death of Steve she wondered the planet for decades looking for meaning and the hope for humanity she saw in her dead friends. She saw almost nothing, but the misery humans caused each other. She eventually abandoned the planet to roam the stars. Eventually she met some of the most unlikely people deep in space, they joined forces to fight for the freedom of those enslaved by the Shi'ar Empire. They joined forces with Lilandra Neramani who was leading a rebellion against her brother the Emperor. After the defeat of the Empoeror and Lilandra crowned Majestrix of the Shi'ar the Starjammers put to a vote what to do next. Diana was outvoted and they set course for Earth.
What Makes This Character 'Ultimate'?: Diana is based on the DCEU version but she has given up on humanity. John is based on the DCAU version but he became a Nova instead. Abigail is not really based on any version of her but she has the powers of Deadman and anyone she possesses. They formed a group to stop slavery and are trying figuring out what to do now they have completed their mission. Do they stay together? Go their separate ways? Form a rock band? Maybe they’ll figure it out maybe they won’t. For now they put all decisions to a vote.
Supporting Characters: Shi'ar Empire Lilandra Neramani Skrulls Nova Corps
Under the direction of famed Soviet geneticist ██████████ ██████████ ██████████, Natasha was injected with a Russian variant of the █████████ developed during Project: Rebirth used on ██████████. The serum when injected within the body provided enhanced ██████████, ████████████████████ as well as other ██████████ ██████████. These genetic augmentations have pushed Natasha far beyond the physical limits of an ordinary human being and has even slowed down her aging to a near standstill.
мокрое дело:
Hell wasn't some imaginary place for Natasha, no Hell was very real and was called the Красная комната. While some may argue about the ethics involved in the Red Room’s treatment of children, you couldn't argue with the results. In the world of espionage and wetwork, Natasha might as well of written the book. She’s skilled in several dozen ways to kill somebody from traditional CQC to firearms and everything in between. Beyond straight intimidation, she is well versed in various more subtle ways to gain information through ways such as cybersecurity and straight up seduction to name a few.
Железная воля:
Blades will not break her. Bullets will not break her. Words will not break her. Fear will not break her. Naturally of courageous disposition, the training she had undertaken and several lifetimes over of wetwork experience has bestowed upon Natasha an indomitable will.
Backstory:
According to official records, Natasha was born in █████, Russian SFSR in December of 19██. Natasha would early on find herself orphaned by the German Wehrmacht. Shortly after, she would be later spotted in the company of army captain named ██████ ██████████ ██████████. █████ was reportedly with Natasha up until atomic fire devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ████ would start a successful post war-career working for the КГБ, and it was through here that ██████ ███████ ████████ of █████████ became aware of Natasha. Soon afterwards Natasha would be sent to ██████████ to begin her studies at the Красная комната.
Inducted into the fledgling рограмма ██████████████ Чёрная вдова. Natasha would soon enough become the program’s most promising test subject. During this time she also underwent intense genetic augmentation trials administered by ██████████ ██████████ ██████████, based upon ██████████ recovered by ███████ ██████████ from Project: Rebirth. Eventually in █████, Natasha was deemed ready by her handlers and would be sent into the field..
Natasha would soon find herself pursuing Soviet interests across the globe. Sightings of a red haired women matching her description first appeared in ███████, then ██████████, and within a month as far afield as ███████. Natasha is reported to have worked with some of the USSR’s greatests assists including:██████████ ██████████ ██████████ AKA “Rocket Red”, ██████████ ██████████ ██████████ AKA “Red Guardian”, and perhaps most interestingly ██████████ ██████████ ██████████ AKA “Winter Soldier”. During this time allied agents also reported having hostile engagements with her including: ████ ███████ ██████████ AKA King, and ███████ ████████ ██████ AKA Agent A-1.
After the collapse of the USSR in the late 1990s, Sightings of Natasha have decreased from their peak during the “Golden Years”. From what little information we have gathered, Romanova still works for the ФСБ in some capacity, through in apparently a much more limited fashion saving her deployment for only mission critical assignments. Recently though our eyes in ██████ have picked up sightings of her in ███████. Whatever the reason is, we can be sure that it definitely is not in our interest that she succeeds.
Known Associates:
►Ivan Petrovich Bezukhov ► Dmitri Pushkin ► James Buchanan Barnes ► Kingsley 'King' Faraday ► Yulia Orlova - Deceased ► Ava Anatalya Orlova
What Makes This Character 'Ultimate'?:
I always wanted Natasha the spy epic that she deserved; following wetwork missions, finding herself bit by bit. Yet to my great dismay, I was never able to really make it work. This time though I think I’ve found something that work. My idea is to pull a Last of Us, God of War, Logan, or perhaps my favorite Turner’s thread in Count Zero with Natasha and Ava. (Ava in this verse is a little older being fourteen years old. Also I’ve made her mother Yulia a runaway from the Black Widow Program and a close friend of Natasha.)
Ava will hopefully help facilitate character growth and lead me to more smooth transition to Natasha’s exit from the world of wetwork. Yet beyond that, I hope to use her as a sort of mirror for Natasha to reflect on and in turn reflect upon the themes I want to hit upon. Themes that are best summarized by quoting Faulkner “The past is never dead. It's not even past”. This Natasha is trapped by her past, haunted by it both figuratively and mentally.
And unlike in some tellings of her tale, she won’t crawl out of the quagmire because she fell head over heels for some boy. She’s going to have to do what she does best instead - fight for it.
Sample Post:
The truth is, if old Morzh hadn’t firmly insisted upon his attendance Alexi would never have come to the Національна опера України at all. Alexi was not a member of those fortunate few born into money that could afford to be cultured. His father was a school teacher in a poor village outside of Luhansk and before that his family were mostly made up of simple farmers. He hadn’t been back home in some time, not since the establishment of the Luhansk People's Republic. A problem, if all was right in the world, he would of been dealing with. Instead he was to go to the godforsaken opera.
So there he was, face obscured by the tainted backseat window of his SUV, watching the slow procession of Kyiv traffic. To either side of him sat statuesque in their silence his two bodyguards: Bohdan and Ruslan. Both were dressed like him, fine suits with a concealed layer of kevlar underneath, and he knew that both carried ПКСКs tucked away in unseen holsters. Apparently the two of them had met doing mercenary work during the Second Chechen War. They, along with their two companions that rode in a secondary SUV with his wife Julija were a costly but much needed expense. People who disagreed with the Kremlin didn’t live long in Kiev these days.
It was just the other day after all that Vadzim was killed. Vadzim was a close friend of Ivan’s and worked alongside him in the Братство. They all knew when they started this endeavor that it was going to be dangerous work, but the loss still stuck with Alexi. He wasn’t even able to go to Vadzim funeral; whoever or whatever had killed his friend could still be out there. That was the main reason he agreed to this meeting with Morzh. The man used to run in some very interesting circles before the Collapse. Now everyone and their mother knew that if you needed information on anything or anyone you talked to Morzh.
“Sir, we have arrived.” announced a gruff rockslide of a voice that was Ruslan’s.
“Finally.”
With the efficiency of a well-oiled machine, Bohdan and Ruslan exited the vehicle first and checked the surroundings. When all was thought to be clear Bohdan’s meaty paw rapped against the window three times to signal Alexi to exit. His worn in boots touched upon the slickened sidewalk just outside the Oprea. It was a Wednesday Night, so the pedestrian traffic on Volodymyrska Street wasn’t too terrible, even so the small crowds that did move about made Alexi nervous. He turned to his right to sound of heels clicking against pavement to see Julija approach.
“Shall we head inside dear?” he asked through a forced smile.
“Let’s.” Julija replied as she smoothly hooked her arm with his and turned towards the entrance. Their retitutne of four now folowingly close in a loose square around them.
The National Opera House was an ornate affair. Built in the Neo-Renaissance style during the early 1900s, the building truly captured the image of a Ukraine that was at its cultural peak. In these modern times though the swooping architecture and the gilded accents stood in strange contrast to the world just outside. People died right outside on Volodymyrska either from violence or starvation everyday and parts of the country were still in open revolt, and yet the rich and famous still came to the opera. To be entrained, to be reminded about anything else besides the mess that they themselves were partially responsible for creating. Bread and circuses after all.
“Alexi!” a booming voice called.
Morzh could only be described in appearance, as closely resembling the Odobenus rosmarus, hence the nickname. A large man weighing over one hundred and thirty six kilograms and roughly six feet in height. His face, a consistent shade of flushed pink, was framed by a large red moustache that completely covered his mouth. He sat sprawled out atop a couch in the lobby like some sultan out of the Arabian Nights. Two female companions who were at least half his age sitting with him. He gestured over with a hand whose massive girth was closed around some glass of alcoholic beverage or another.
As Alexi approached Morzh, with a surprising amount of agility for a man his size, rose up to meet him and grasped him in a sweat caked hug.
“I’m so glad that you could make it!” proclaimed Morzh the blunted contours of his round face shifting as he did.
“Of course, anything for you my friend! Besides Julija was glad to have a break from the kids.”
“You woman must be some kind of witch! Three kids and you have a body like that!” Morzh joked as he gestured towards Julija who did her best to politely smile in return. Seemingly bored with the current topic he turned back to Alexi. “And we have a treat tonight! The say the young man playing Max is truly an astonishing sight to behold! He apparently have only just graduated from his classes at Leipzig!”
“You don’t say!” Alexi replied with feigned interest. “We better be going upstairs then! Don’t want to miss the show do we?”
Nodding in agreement, Morzh began to lead the couple up the stairs that lead to the upper levels. As Morzh went into finer details with Julija about the finer details of the upcoming production, Alexi noted the other men that soon began to follow them like hawks. These men were of course part of Morzh’s own private security entourage, and if the rumors Alexi heard were to be believed made up entirely of black ops types. Leading them up flight after flight, Morzh eventually turned left at a landing and lead them to his own private booth, the door already guarded by two more of his men. Julija and his female companions sat down in the row in front of them as Morzh gestured for Alexi to sit next to him in the back row.
From what Alexi had picked up during Morzh’s ranting to Julija, the performance that they were seeing tonight was about a marksman who makes a deal with the devil over magic bullets. A topic which given the current climate of things seemed a little too on the nose for Alexi’s tastes. It didn’t help win him over when he found out that the entire performance was going to be in German. Rolling his eyes as the lights dimmed and curtain opened he watched as the performers began to spin their yarn.
Roughly halfway through the first act, just as the leading man began his aria, Morzh turned his head ever so slightly towards Alexi.
“You did not come here just for your love of the arts Alexi.” his voice whispered with a hint of laughter.
“Is it really that obvious?”
“Yes but do not worry, I am not a man whose ego is easily offended.” Morzh replied with a grin. “I have looked into the “untimely” demise of your friend Vadzim”
“And?’ Alexi replied as he felt his heart pound against his chest.
“What do you know of the Red Room?” Morzh asked curiously.
“The fucking Baba Yaga breeding chamber? Isn’t that place just a tall tale made up by mother’s to get their children to go to bed on time?”
“What if I told you the Red Room was a very real place? That it produces some of the most terrifying creatures to ever be commanded by the Kremlin?” Morzh asked this time his voice flat without any sense of humor within it.
“I would say that your going paranoid in your old age Morzh. To stop playing me like a fool.” Alexi replied trying to surprise the fear that was rising in his voice. His heart was beating faster now. He could feel it in his ears.
“I’m not being paranoid Alexi. You should be though, because if one of those demons is after you it is only a matter of time.” Morzh explained with a cold bluntless as he slowly turned his face back towards the performers on the stage below.
As it so happened Alexi did not hear the faint sounds of Morzh’s guards outside the door being taken out. He did not hear as the soft press of a knife slit open the jugulars of Bohdan and Ruslan. He did notice as Morzh suddenly as if struck by something slumped down in the seat next to him. Alexi never even felt the bullet that killed him. His mind was too preoccupied with the imaginary demons that were soon to be creeping up on him.
---
Natasha watched as the weighted bag containing the knife and the PSS sunk into the dark waters of the Dnieper. She looked up at the few twinkling stars that managed to fight through the light pollution of the city below. She breathed in letting the cool air fill her lungs and waited a moment and then another before letting it release. It felt good.
She pressed a single finger to her left ear.
“This is вдова.” the voice held a icey purity to it unfettered by emotion. It felt almost alien sometimes.
“Go.”
“Mission Complete.”
... I was wondering why some person I had never seen before was peeking around my profile. This looks fucking awesome.
