[OOC] CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

[Byrd Man]

Character You're Applying For:

The Fantastic Four

@Morden Man

[stark]

Get me a scotch

Ultimate One Universe: Year One Application

Character You're Applying For: Tony Stark // Iron Man

Powers And Abilities:

— Genius: Tony may be a lot of things, but no one will argue the fact that he’s brilliant. As far as technology goes, there’s literally almost nothing that the man can’t build or even fix, given enough time and the right tools. From a young age Tony was blessed with a quick mind and the heart of an inventor -- always wanting to challenge the status quo of the world and make it better. Admitted to MIT’s (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) undergraduate program for electrical engineering at just the age of 15, Tony went on to complete two master’s degrees before he hit the age of 20, and then earn his PhD in physics and electrical engineering.

— Money: Billions. No, literally. Tony Stark's bank account has more zeros than any single person has a right to have. This obscene fortune allows him to effortlessly fund any projects that happen to interest him, as well as pursue his own hobbies at his leisure. (Women. Parties. Expensive cars. And, of course, technology.) After Tony’s abduction in Afghanistan, he closed the weapons division of Stark Industries, the company he had inherited upon the death of his parents, and announced the company would be moving in a different direction — no longer comfortable profiting from making weapons (as his father had before him), Tony chose to focus the company on creating technology that could potentially improve the world, rather than simply destroy it. While the stock for Stark Industries initially took a hit with this change, profits have begun to rise again as new products and inventions have begun to roll off the assembly line. As far as anyone can tell, Stark Industries has a bright future ahead of it, which means Tony should be financially set for life, barring any terrible misfortunes.

— Arc Reactor in Chest: Sure, it looks sort of cool to have a glowing circle of light in the center of your chest, but the arc reactor residing there on Tony is a functional necessity. After sustaining a life-threatening injury during his stint in Afghanistan, Tony was able to retrofit some existing technology into a means of prolonging his life. Shrapnel — inoperable and deadly — was threatening to pierce his heart. With the help of a fellow hostage, who was luckily a very talented doctor, Stark managed a way of magnetically repelling the shrapnel away from his vital organs. As it turned out, the power of the magnetic field generator in his chest not only saved his life, it provided the key to unlocking the future of who he would become...

— Iron Man Suit: The suit. At first, a very clunky design made out of scraps, odds and ends, and sheets of metal that Stark was able to cobble together under harsh working circumstances. A design necessary to facilitate his escape from his captors, taking them down with a strength they simply could not match. Upon his arrival back home in New York City, designing a better version of the metal suit became an obsession. Tony sometimes stayed up for days at a time, refusing to quit or even eat until he had perfected the mechanisms he was tinkering with. Many months passed before a workable prototype was finally ready for testing. With his latest A.I. installed, J.A.R.V.I.S., there was nothing left but to put the suit on and see what it was capable of. Sure, there were some bugs, which JARVIS dutifully catalogued for Tony, so that he could continue to refine the design after each test, but Mark II was significantly more refined than the Mark I suit had been — it was sleek, maneuverable, and (dare he say it?) downright sexy by comparison. While it still needed some tweaking, Tony could now take it out for a spin at his discretion — rocketing through the skies with speeds only matched by military jets and, if the situation arose, perhaps do some good with it... After all, a virtually impenetrable metal suit that housed advanced weaponry and created superhuman strength was certainly a force to be reckoned with. And, it could be said, in this time when rumors of heroes beginning to rise were running rampant, perhaps it appealed to his (massive) ego that he could be one of them. Perhaps.

Origin And Backstory:

Born into privilege, Anthony ’Tony’ Edward Stark never really wanted for anything. He attended the best schools and, due to his high intelligence level, he easily mastered anything that was thrown at him. At the early age of 15, Tony was accepted to the undergraduate electrical engineering program at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) where he managed to complete two master’s degrees before the age of 20. While earning his PhD in physics and electrical engineering, Tony’s parents were killed in an automobile accident. While the details around their ‘accident’ were highly suspicious, no one was ever able to put forward enough evidence to point the finger at anyone specifically, so the case ultimately was closed. Somewhat bereft by the sudden loss, but not wanting to show weakness, Tony Stark squared his shoulders and took on the mantle of CEO of his family company, Stark Industries, filling the void left by the the death of his family with any manner of distraction he could manage to turn up — parties, alcohol, women, fancy cars, vacation homes, and traveling to every exotic location that could possibly be thought of. As a result, the young man’s reputation began to grow into something of ridiculous proportion, especially in the media -- the paparazzi never turned down the chance of headlining a story featuring one of New York City’s favorite (a.k.a richest) and most eligible bachelors. More interested in entertaining himself than running a company, Tony largely left the details of work to his dutiful assistant, Pepper Pots, and the various board members of Stark Industries — he was well-supplied with money to keep up his questionable habits, so the company was comfortably relegated to his back burners. Everything worked fine with the company and so he was quite happy to be the face of things (i.e. do ribbon cutting ceremonies, attend noteworthy demonstrations, and meet with high-profile clients), but leave the boring aspects to others better suited for jobs Tony considered to be ‘boring’. (Basically, anything not directly worthy of his brilliant mind or anything that might interfere with his penchant for living it up.)

Stark Industries, even as Tony inherited it, was known world wide for their weapon manufacturing — their competition for production was staggering, but Howard Stark, Tony’s father, had always seemed to have a leg up his competitors. Much like his son, Howard was a brilliant engineer and designer. He strove to be the best, and he easily accomplished it in ways that made his would-be rivals envious. It was while attending a weapon’s hardware demonstration near Afghanistan that Tony, now the notorious playboy CEO of Stark Industries, was taken hostage by a terrorist faction known as the Ten Rings. The contingent of American soldiers that had been accompanying him were brutally slaughtered and Tony the only one to (barely) survive the attack, just as the terrorists planned. They kept Stark alive for a single reason — they wanted him to create a high-tech missile that they could use to inflict their hatred upon anyone who did not share their world vision. Clearly they were aware of the exceptional mind that their hostage had and they were damn sure going to take advantage of it.

Unintentionally injured during the skirmish that the Ten Rings had created to capture him, Tony was near death, so the commander of the terrorist organization ordered another hostage of theirs, a doctor, to save Tony’s life. Complying, the doctor was able to remove the majority of shrapnel that threatened to slice apart Tony’s insides, but there were several shards that were lodged so crucially that removing them would mean instant death. Instead, a way was ultimately devised of using a magnetic field placed in Tony’s chest cavity that would repel the remaining shrapnel away from his vital organs. (Mainly his heart.) Back on his feet, the Ten Rings demanded Tony be put to work building their weapon. Fortunately for Tony, his knowledge and mechanical brilliance allowed him to instead construct a machine that could be used against his captors and allow him to escape - an iron suit, loaded with weapons and other surprises, which he built right under the terrorist’s noses. This suit would be the first of many, though Tony Stark had no idea at the time… it was simply the means to an end.

Once free and back in New York, Tony shied away from the publicity that was hounding him even more than usual. Everyone wanted to hear how he escaped his kidnappers. Everyone wanted his picture and to commend his bravery. Everyone wanted to bother him, but for once, Tony wasn’t interested. Usually more than happy to flash a smile for the press or provide them with just enough titilating details on how his dating life was going, he became somewhat of a recluse. It was in this confinement (to Stark Tower in midtown Manhattan) that the notion of designing another suit began to itch in his brain. The little itch eventually sparked a fire, which quickly turned into an obsession. Day and night for several months, Tony hid away in his workshop. He welded and tinkered, programmed, and finally refined his way to a working prototype — the Mark II. The design was much more sleek than the rudimentary suit he had created in Afghanistan. High tech. Fast. Strong. (And damn sexy, if you asked him.) Initial tests were performed in his workshop, but eventually there was nothing left to do but try the suit out in the real world. Equipped with J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony's latest custom A.I. interface, the suit was capable of rocket-fast flight, taking hits from virtually anything (short of a direct nuclear blast) and withstanding the damage. Oh, sure, it had a weapons system of its own, but that wasn’t his purpose in building the suit. After all, his family had built enough weapons throughout history — this suit would be for protection. Something to help ensure peace, not facilitate war. And, with rumors running rampant of heroes beginning to rise, that old ego of his sparked — why not try to save the world? In a suit like this, he felt like he could at least positively contribute to society… Maybe it was time to re-think what Stark Industries stood for as a whole. There was so much more that he could do than simply waste his life hopping from one party to another, drifting through an endless cycle of flimsy relationships and even less stable stints of sobriety… There were more important things and, for the first time in a long time, his mind was open to the possibilities.

What Makes This Character 'Ultimate’?:

Tony Stark is largely the same personality-wise in most incarnations of his character and we all know his basic origin story, but no one ever really focuses much on the details of his transition into becoming Iron Man. I think it would be interesting to explore him as a person and how his capture in Afghanistan changed him, which is something I feel like is always quickly glossed over in favor of going straight into him being Iron Man. I want to work in that gap and flesh out who he is as a person and a man, living in his unique circumstances (abundant riches, fame, and being brilliant) and how he handles any inner demons he may have going forward. I think it will be interesting to see how any friendships or even disagreements with other characters from this emerging hero’s universe shape the hero he aims to become.

Supporting Characters:

— Pepper Pots: Tony’s personal assistant. She acts as his general liaison to Stark Industries and carries out any business (or personal) tasks that Tony happens to place in her proverbial hands. Reliable... Smart... Pretty... A real go-to kind of gal, but Tony generally just takes her for granted and lets her handle anything he doesn’t feel like dealing with. Sometimes this is delivering important company info, usually it’s arranging his social calendar and making sure his dry-cleaning gets picked up. Pepper is pretty convinced that her boss couldn’t tie his shoes without her and Tony never does anything to contradict this assumption. Perfect working relationship, as far as he’s concerned.

— "Happy" Hogan: Tony’s bodyguard. (And chauffeur.) An all around 'good guy' and very loyal to his boss, Tony Stark. Usually a silent presence, just hanging around and doing his job - protecting Tony.

---

Sample Post Snippet

---

Stark Tower
Tony Stark -- alone

“JARVIS,” called out a voice suddenly, breaking the silence of the room. “Read me back the event log from from that last round.”

“Certainly, Sir,” replied a cool British tone. “Errors in sections 64, 73, and 109. Alignment problem in subsection G, with possible coding conflict in the propulsion system. There also appears to be a glitch in communication between the core section and the power supply. Shall I run further diagnostics?”

“Shit,” Tony mumbled, wiping his greasy hand on a nearby rag. “Yeah, run diagnostics with a focus on the power coupler between sections B and C. We’re no good if the power supply isn’t getting through."

“Of course, Sir.”

Tony Stark passed the now clean hand wearily over his face, annoyed with the latest round of problems that were cropping up.

How long had he been awake now? Two days? Three?

Honestly, who knew at this point?

The stale, half-eaten pizza fermenting on the far side of his desk felt like the only thing that was marking any measure of time passing. Left over pepperoni and pizza grease began to get funky after about three days of sitting out (in his experience), but Tony would have been hard-pressed to smell the funk over the soldering fumes that had been wafting periodically from his workspace. Having kicked a fussing Pepper out of the workshop roughly 24 hours ago, no one was left to shame him for the growing mess. JARVIS, existing in only a virtual sense, was hardly one to complain -- he made the ideal working partner in these instances of unbridled (borderline manic) production. After all, being a mechanical genius was messy from time-to-time and a computer didn't have a nose to offend or turn up in the air. See? Perfect.

Pulling himself into a standing position, Tony stretched and cracked his back with a loud groan.

Damn, that felt good.

The mechanic had spent the better part of the last hour hunched over, adjusting the finer interior workings of the metal boots that were currently on his workbench. Sure, they were loaded with tech, shiny, and impressive looking, but they might as well have been bricks for all the good they were doing -- for some reason he couldn't get them to be recognized by the rest of the electrical system wired throughout his project.

No, his obsession.

The suit was coming along, slowly but surely. With JARVIS working to pinpoint the errors in the main casing of the metal body shell, Tony had chosen to try and address the issues regarding the corresponding foot encasements. They had initially been functioning, but when they'd been hooked up to the propulsion system, something went wrong and shorted out some of the circuits he'd hidden in the heel of the boots. Now the rest of the suit wasn't even recognizing their existence power-wise. But that was sometimes the way it went -- one step forward, two steps back. Inventing was a game of patience or, well, stubbornness depending on how you looked at it. The challenge was what made it interesting, even if aggravation frequently reared its ugly head during the process.

"JARVIS, what say we order some Sichuan? I'm in the mood for something with a kick to it."

"Ms. Potts has left you several messages, Sir, if you're planning on taking a break," the computer voice replied pointedly. "Shall I continue fielding her calls or would you like to respond now?"

"Nevermind about Pepper, just order the food," Tony said. "And get it from that China Moon place over near 47th and Fifth. I like that they throw in extra sauce without me needing to ask for it."

"Of course, Sir."

Settling down onto the swivel stool positioned at his desk, Tony glanced at the pizza box situated opposite him with a frown. He was unsurprised to hear that his real-life assistant Pepper Pots had left voicemails for him. After he had pushed her out of his workshop rather curtly the day before, he had been sending her calls to voicemail since. He knew she was concerned about him and only trying to check to see if he was ok, but he wasn't in the mood to deal with her worrying. Of course, he knew it was kind of a dick move behavior-wise on his part, but Pepper was a big girl and knew what to expect from him at times like this. He knew she wouldn't take it all personally.

Maybe he'd tell her to buy herself a nice, expensive gift on his behalf. She really did put up with a lot of shit from his end, all the while organizing his life and keeping his world running smoothly.

She had even been thoughtful and brought him pizza from his favorite joint uptown, before he'd kicked her out in the name of progress.

"You know what?" Tony began, glancing towards his array of computer monitors and thoughtfully scratching at the expertly sculptured goatee on his chin. "Send Pepper a message telling her that I'm stopping for food and a shower. If she wants to catch me, tell her to pick up some of those energy drinks I like and that she has approximately a two hour window before I start up work again."

"Will you be working another full night, Sir?" JARVIS queried in response. "Perhaps it would be best if you added a nap into your two-hour window or, better yet, if you stopped to get an entire night's sleep."

"Just mind your business, JARVIS. I'll be fine after a few pick-me-up's. How long before the food gets here?"

---

[mickilennial]

@Morden Man That's a high concept idea. I'm fascinated on how it will play out here. Were they transplanted into the bodies of their UO counterparts or do they not exist in this timeline, perhaps they coexist in the same way we had two Kal-El's in the comics for a little while? How will they cope with their past and how will they determine this world's future? I can't wait to find out.

[Master Bruce]

Alright, and the first initiates into the game are...

Spider-Gwen, played by HenryJonesJr
John Constantine, played by Byrd Man



Ultimately, while Byrd, Morden and I were impressed with both applications for a Spider-person, we felt as though Henry's Spider-Gwen concept captured the spirit of the game a bit more. Sorry, Dedonus.

With that, all contestant entries for Spider-Man or Woman are now closed, aswell as any looking to contest Byrd as Constantine.

[HenryJonesJr]

Awesome. Can't wait to get started. Hope you go with another character @dedonus.

Spider-Gwen

@Master Bruce

Spider-WOMAN damn it! :-p

[Lord Wraith]

The best part of @Morden Man's CS? The Batman his Fantastic Four knows, is my Batman :P

[mickilennial]

The best part of @Morden Man's CS? The Batman his Fantastic Four knows, is my Batman :P

@Lord Wraith

I am so glad Batman & FemNightwing got mind controlled by Darkseid.

[Lord Wraith]

I am so glad Batman & FemNightwing got mind controlled by Darkseid.

@Inkarnate

She was Batgirl!

She never made it to Nightwing :P

[mickilennial]

She was Batgirl!

She never made it to Nightwing :P

@Lord Wraith

Wasn't for lack of you trying.

[Sep]

@Lord Wraith the best Hulk ever didn't even get a mention :'(

[Byrd Man]

Meanwhile...

This Piece of Shit

Ultimate One Universe: Year One Application

Character You're Applying For: Batman/Bruce Wayne

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Character Picture:



Sample Post:

Gotham City, Warehouse 2120
12:41 AM

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

"It starts..."

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Something like him, I suppose."

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

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

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

"You see what, Bruce?"

---

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

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

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

"Jesus Christ!"

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

---

"Fuck. Shit. Fuck!"

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

"OH, FUCK!"

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

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

---

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

I raise an eyebrow. "Professional..."

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

I take a moment to consider this.

"No."

When she visibly questions my response, I elaborate.

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

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

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

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

"I consider him a separate entity, yes."

---

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

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

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

---

She's silent.

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

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

"Leslie."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

A projectile that looked to be shaped like a Bat.

@Master Bruce

After careful review. I have to say this is the most horribly written, derivative. I feel bad for having read all of this thoroughly, and now feel as if I have wasted precious minutes of my life reading this rambling and incoherent bag of shit. I APPROVE you, but I do so only on the hope that your horrible writing will lead you to a life of depression, drug use, and alcoholism that will end with you mercifully deciding to end it all with a shotgun blast to the head.

Can't wait to read the next post.

[Lord Wraith]

Wasn't for lack of you trying.

@Inkarnate

Pretty sure she never got to a costume to me being me haha. Batman was too busy fighting Deathstroke.

[Lord Wraith]

After careful review. I have to say this is the most horribly written, derivative. I feel bad for having read all of this thoroughly, and now feel as if I have wasted precious minutes of my life reading this rambling and incoherent bag of shit. I APPROVE you, but I do so only on the hope that your horrible writing will lead you to a life of depression, drug use, and alcoholism that will end with you mercifully deciding to end it all with a shotgun blast to the head.

Can't wait to read the next post.

@Byrd Man

[Byrd Man]

Who else needs approval?

[Sep]

Who else needs approval?

@Byrd Man

I may have my sheet finished, but would it be easier for me just to hang myself now?

[Master Bruce]

Nobody yet. Those were the only apps 24 hours old.

[Byrd Man]

<Snipped quote by Byrd Man>

I may have my sheet finished, but would it be easier for me just to hang myself now?

@Sep

It would save me time on writing a response.

[Sep]

<Snipped quote by Sep>

It would save me time on writing a response.

@Byrd Man

Okay, I'm going to sleep and then go to work tomorrow. I'll see you in 24hrs.

[HenryJonesJr]

@Master Bruce, I take it you'll be putting up a roster post for the first post in the characters thread? Or should we move our CSs over there now?

[Hound55]

<Snipped quote by Inkarnate>

Because I have low-self esteem and use irony and self-deprecation as a barrier that nobody, not even my wife, can break through all the way.

a-duh

@Byrd Man

Don't steal my profile. The second the site's security measures go down...