A YJA Moment - The League of Villains

With the disruption in magic during the Pleasent Hills Incident, the forces of the supernatural are in turmoil.  While the situation was resolved and the 11th Age of Magic was avoided, the forces in the universe have been shaken and are now in a process of realignment.  On the most supernatural night of the year, Halloween, a group known as The League of Villains are making a play for power.

The League of Villains is kept in line by their impossibly slender leader. His friends are permitted to call him Jack.  Everyone else has a different name for him - The Pumpkin King. The Skeleton. The Thin Man. The Rogue Reaper.  After abandoning his post as a servant of the afterlife, he came to the mortal plane where he proclaimed himself Lord of Halloween.  Not content to rule one holiday, he has on at least once occasion attempted to wrest Christmas from the grasp of the Allfather.  Taking a tithe of every soul he claimed has granted him power unseen by mere mortal ghosts.  Besides his potent spacial altering magics, he possesses the living shadow weapon Soul Robber, which can grapple objects and turn into a scythe and other weapons.

Seeing The Black Widow Bride, you would make the mistake of dismissing her as a simple ghost.  Constance Hatchaway is more than a conventional spirit - she is a powerful poltergeist whose spectral ax can cut through steel and bone.  In life, she had many wealthy husbands, all of them who perished in terrible... accidents which left their heads detached from their bodies.  She was never arrested or convicted for her crimes but after her death, she found she was trapped in the very house she had murdered in.  Only on Halloween may she leave her haunted house but must return before sun-up lest the psychopomps come and drag her to her due punishment.

It would be wise for no one to underestimate the man who goes by the name The Shadow Man.  Wile Doctor Samuel Facilier appears to be a bokor who practices the left-handed path of Petro Voodoo, he, in fact, was one of Jack's first disciples and is empowered by the same necrotic energies that fuel the Pumpkin King.  Capable of making pacts and casting spells, his main ability is to draw dark spirits into the material world to do his bidding.

Maleficent is one of the last surviving dragons that have survived to the modern-day.  For millennia she held a domain in England until she was betrayed by future King Edward II.  Seeking revenge, she cast a spell on his firstborn daughter to cause her eternal slumber.  Eventually, the spell was broken by a brave warrior Philip.  The Knight would end up gravely injuring Maleficent, causing her to fake her death so she could escape and heal.  Using her great magics and shapeshifting to skulk around the fringes of civilization for centuries she eventually agreed to join the League of Villains to carve out a new domain.

The meteor which uplifted the primates of Gorilla City, also altered other animals in the savannahs of Africa.  One of these creatures was the lion Scar, a power-hungry lion who craved the leadership of the pride held by his brother.  Arranging for the death of King Mustafa, Scar was eventually overthrown by his nephew Simba and was attacked and killed by hyenas.  Resurrected to life in the service of the League, Scar seeks an opportunity to share the pain and anguish he was forced to endure while biding his time to take over leadership.

League members operate out of a place they call the Haunted Mansion.  Hatachaway's prison is one house, many houses or no houses depending on the time and circumstances.  In truth, any sufficiently ghost-infested location can merge into the collective framework that is the Haunted Mansion.  When someone enters such a location, they are greeted to shifting floor-plans possessed by nine-hundred and ninety-nine ghosts drawn from around the world.  

Normal instances of the Haunted Mansion are manors in New Orleans, Philidelphia, and Thunder Mesa, Utah.  However, on Halloween, all haunted locations are potential portals for the Mansion. Using the Black Widow Bride as a guide, the League can effectively teleport across the country or the world using the Mansion.

A YJA Moment - Checkmate current events

[This is Oracle - Batman (O.G. Batman, Batman Prime?) has asked me to fill you in the current state of Checkmate.  I won't like to you - the situation isn't great, but the Great Takeover isn't exactly running smoothly for Gyrich and his goons]

[Thank you Oracle, I will be adding commentary when necessary - B]

As of the beginning of the month, Checkmate has subsumed all of the operations formerly held by the Office of National Emergency.  This includes the Triskelion and all Field Offices across the United States.  They are still in the process of vetting thousands of agents and support personnel.  Most of the staunchest loyalists were held in security lockup and were liberated by the Avengers to Outland.  It looks like a small number are being retained, with the rest being transferred to other agencies or having their employment outright terminated.

[We have the personnel we needed out of there.  Luckily, Gyrich doesn't seem to hold grudges with the rank and file O.N.E. personnel so I expect no harsh treatment - B]

Checkmate was empowered to subsume the O.N.E. by President Ellis through an executive order.  While well within the President's right to deal with executive-level organizations, this was highly irregular.  Most agencies, particularly intelligence and security agencies, are created through legislation not through what amounts to a presidential decree.  This has not gone unchallenged, as civil liberty groups have launched court challenges in order to determine the constitutionality of Ellis' actions.  This is expected to slowly pass through the legal system until it reaches a definitive end at the Supreme Court.

[Ellis stacked the Supreme Court with those aligned with his ideology, but that is not a guarantee that the SCOTUS will rule in his favor.  This is very much a Constitution grey-area -B]

The White House is, of course, rushing to make this court case a moot point by passing legislation.  The Security Agency Reorganization Act of 2019 officially recognizes Checkmate as the intelligence and law enforcement dealing with extraordinary (read Metahuman) threats to the American public.  Despite the Presidents party controlling both the House and the Senate, it is unclear whether the bill has enough votes in either body to pass.  All polls, both public and internal show the public deeply mistrustful of Checkmate, causing many politicians to ask serious questions about the agency.  2020 is an election year and many representatives and senators fear a backlash from the electorate if they push through legislation without the appearance of due diligence. 

[Politicians and the public are not stupid.  Despite what the President's loyal base think, the average citizen sees this for what it really is - a grab for power by Checkmate - B]

It doesn't help that Gyrich totally blew his closed-door appearance at the Senate Intelligence Committee meeting yesterday.  I managed to get a raw feed from sources that AW gave me and I can tell you it got very heated in that room.  The members of the committee were not impressed by Gyrich's attempt to keep Checkmate's organization obfuscated under the blanket of "national security".  They rightfully had tough questions about when and how this agency was formed, where it received its funding and its organizational structure.  Gyrich.s non-answers were not appreciated by the committee and it is expected that they will subpoena the acting Director for all relevant documentation in the next day or so. 

[While I don't expect the subpoenas to get anywhere, the fact that Checkmate can be subpoenaed exposes a weakness.  In order to gain power, Gyrich has sacrificed his agency's greatest asset - anonymity - B]

Did I say Acting Director?  Because though he has been appointed Director by President Ellis, Gyrich has not gone through the Senate confirmation process and therefore is not truly the head of Checkmate (at least on paper).  Henry has spent his life as a civil servant aggravating those in the halls of power and making a lot of enemies.  That is going to come back to haunt him in the Confirmation Hearings, where he will have to answer more tough questions, this time with already-skeptical audience analyzing his every word.

[There is no way Gyrich is going to win confirmation under normal conditions.  However, with Weapons Plus and Task Force X at this command, he could certainly engineer circumstances at would require a hasty confirmation. -B]

Well, that is all I have at the moment;  Summing up, Checkmate has a lot of power but none of it is certain and reliable.

A YJA Moment - Batman Incorporated

FADE IN

INT. DARK HALLWAY

ELEVATOR at the end of the Hallway opens. BRUCE WAYNE enters HALLWAY

Hello, my name is Bruce Wayne. You may know me as the CEO of Wayne Industries and the Wayne Foundation. For most of his life, my father Thomas Wayne worked to make Gotham City a better place. Had he not been brutally murdered, he would have continued spending our family fortune to help the disadvantaged.

BRUCE continues to walk down the HALLWAY

I too believed in my father's vision but the horrible truth was that Gotham City wasn't ready for a philanthropist like my father. It was too steeped in crime and corruption. It needed someone to shine the light in the darkness, to strip away the mobsters and the villains. So using my family fortune, I sought out and equipped and extraordinary man to strike at the heart of Gotham's problems.

BRUCE reached the end of the HALLWAY. The camera pans away to show a view of the BATCAVE.

I created Batman.

BRUCE walks into the BATCAVE, walking upstairs towards the BAT COMPUTER.

While I played the role of businessman and playboy, the Batman waged a one-man war on crime. First considered a criminal, then a vigilante, he was later heralded as a hero and was even made a member of the Justice League.

BRUCE reaches the BAT COMPUTER and sits down on a chair, facing the CAMERA.

The Dark Knight may be gone, but his legacy still remains. The man behind the cowl may have been the world's greatest detective; he may have been an extraordinary man, but he is not irreplaceable. We have his history, his resources, and his example.

BRUCE leans forward towards the CAMERA

That is why effective immediately I am taking a leave of absence from both the Wayne Foundation and Wayne Enterprises. I am taking this time to announce the creation of a new non-profit agency that will revolutionize crime-fighting world-wide. I would like to introduce to you...Batman Incorporated.

The BATMAN INCORPORATED logo appears on the BAT COMPUTER screen. BRUCE starts walking on a WALKWAY towards the BATMOBILE

Leveraging a decade of the Dark Knight. Using proven training and the latest technology to create new members of the Bat-Family. Batmen and Batwoman in every city; every country around the world.

BRUCE walks up to the BATMOBILE and stands beside it.

With independent funding and located in hidden locations across the globe, Batman Incorporated will combat crime in all its forms. Muggers, Organized Criminals, or Corrupt Officials. We will find and defeat you. We cannot be stopped.

BRUCE sits on the roof of the BATMOBILE

If you believe you are the next Dark Knight, we welcome you to contact us. Finding us is your first and only test. There are clues to a contact point within this message. This will be your only clue. We look forward to meeting you.

FADE TO BLACK

A YJA Moment - The Spirits of Vengeance

Of all the varied creatures formed by the Higher Power, the mysterious creator of the world, none are so feared as the Spirits of Vengeance.  Neither angel nor demon, the spirits exist to punish the wicked no matter their physical strength or social status.  Like many other entities, the Spirits of Vengeance must bond their essence to the soul of a willing host for them to affect the physical world.

Though the exact powers bestowed on the host are varied, with some able to alter reality, control fire; and have some combination of super-strength, durability, or regeneration.  Almost all spirits have the Penance Stare, the ability to transfer to them the pain and anguish of all their victims.

In ancient times one of the Spirits went rogue and sought to use its powers to destroy anyone it deemed unworthy of life.  Nabu and an alliance of sorcerers defeated Eclipso and imprisoned him in a specially-prepared diamond, which instantly turned black.  The Heart of Darkness would hold Eclipso for many centuries until scientist Bruce Gordon accidentally released him during an experiment in the 1970s.  

The first modern Spirit of Vengeance was the Justice Society member known as the Spectre, who appeared in the 40s.  Gotham City Police Detective Jim Corrigan was investigating an organized crime cartel when he was murdered by the mob's henchmen.  Bonded to a Spirit of Vengeance, the Spectre returned and dealt final justice to all that had wronged him.  Corrigan continued to house the Spirit for many years and is still active today.

The Spirit is known as Zarathos was corrupted by the infernal powers and was used by the demon Mephisto to further his aims.  Attempting to create another Eclipso, he tricked a stunt driver, Johnny Blaze, into a making a deal to save his ailing father.  Bonded to Zarathos, he turned against the forces of hell and became the first of the supernatural vigilantes known as Ghost Rider

Years later, Danny Ketch would learn that his family line was a host to successive generations of Spirits of Vengeance.  After gaining the amulet of his ancestor Noble Kale, Danny invoked the power of the amulet to summon the Spirit.  Inspired by Johnny Blaze, Ketch adopted a biker motif, become the second individual to become the Ghost Rider.

Yoshio Kannabe was also inspired by both Blaze and Ketch. Using ancient rites to call upon what he believed to be Emma-o, the kami of revenge, emerged as a blazing curse on the nation's Yakuza.  Reborn as Boss Bosozuko, Yoshio would become a media icon, even graduating to the ranks of Big Science Action. 

The current Ghost Rider is a young street racer, Robbie Reyes who drives a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T.  After stealing a vehicle that housed stolen technology, Robbie was hunted down by gang members who riddled his car with bullets. Awaking to find he was not injured, Robbie later discovered he was now hosting a Spirit of Vengeance.  Like Danny Ketch, this Spirit also inhabited successive generations, previously using his uncle Elias Morrow as a host.  His uncle had been an evil man and had corrupted the Spirit, forcing Robbie to redeem the Spirit as well as act as the newest in the line of Ghost Riders.

A YJA Moment - An Interview with Director Gyrich

[Excerpts from the Edge Network’s prime-time show Jetstream, where host Jezebel Jet interviews head of the government agency Checkmate, Director Henry Peter Gyrich]

Jet:  The latest Galaxy Broadcasting Poll, well over half of Americans don't trust Checkmate.  Does this bother you?

Gyrich:   Not at all.  I think if you polled the public, you would find that they mistrust most government agencies…

Jet:  Yet, the numbers are particularly high for Checkmate.

Gyrich:   I admit, our introduction to the public could have been a  bit better timed…

Jet:  Timed?

Gyrich:   With the nation’s security at stake we felt it necessary to take extraordinary steps…

Jet:  Mr. Gyrich, your agency appeared out of practically nowhere and staged what was effectively a hostile takeover of another government agency…

Gyrich:  ...which had betrayed the people’s trust and risked their safety.  Need I remind you that Director Hill left control of The Shield in the hands of foreign nationals?  Teenagers no less!

Jet:  You are speaking, of course, about the new Avengers team that formed in the wake of the Watchtower Massacre?

Gyrich:  The incident with the Watchtower was tragic, Ms. Jet. Yet, our defense lay in the individuals who largely owed no allegiance to the United States.  A mythical beast, two individuals who claimed to be deities, Captain Marvel’s former sidekick and an underage vigilante are not appropriate national defenders…

Jet:  But your Thunderbolts are?

Gyrich: The Avengers, Ms. Jet.  As our team is now sanctioned super-team on American soil, they are now to be called the Avengers.  And yes, they are very much appropriate national defenders.

Jet:  I want to get back to the poll numbers, Mr. Gyrich.  These were taken last week before the leaked footage…

Gyrich:  ...you mean the stolen classified information…

Jet:   …the leaked footage of your altercation with Secretary-General Lex Luthor and his Squadron Supreme.  Footage that, among other things, alludes to an alliance with Luthor as a part of the crime syndicate known as The Light.

Gyrich:  That incomplete footage was released entirely without context as part of an attempt to discredit Checkmate

Jet: Then you don’t dispute its authenticity.

Gyrich:   I do not.

Jet:  Are you a member of The Light, as indicated in the video?

Gyrich:  The footage is part of an on-going and extremely classified investigation.  I cannot comment on it any further.

Jet:  I don’t think the public is going to be happy with that answer.

Gyrich:  They are well within their right, especially in light of the thoughtless actions of the Office of National Emergency in the last few months.

Jet:  You are not bothered by this?

Gyrich:  On the contrary, I am very disturbed by the idea that Checkmate is treated with suspicion.  However, I made a vow to protect American citizens from all threats visible and invisible.  I wish I could explain the contents of that video, but as I said it is part of an on-going investigation.  As the Director of Checkmate, I can only assure the public that once we have completed the investigation, we will release as much information as we are allowed under our nation’s security regulations.

Jet: Thank you very much for your time, Director Gyrich

Gyrich:  It’s been a pleasure, Ms. Jet.

Announcer:   For the full interview, check out Jetstream, tonight at 9 pm Eastern.  Or join Silver St. Cloud and Booster Gold himself, Michael Jon Carter, as they are joined by the Checkmate Director tomorrow morning on the Silver and Gold Morning Show.  See local listings.

A YJA Moment - The Reverse-Flash

Note: Mercury was a character played by a former member of our group Jon-Mark Wolfraim-Jenkins and idea, creation, and most of the history of the character belongs to him.

Eobard Thawne was a scientist hundreds of years in the future.  A brilliant mind, he had a terrible upbringing and he saw the worst that humanity had to offer.  Developing a sadistic streak, he loved to gain revenge on his enemies, using his intellect to engineer circumstances that would injure and humiliate them.

He was also a fan of the silver age Flash Barry Allen, idolizing him for most of his life.  Volunteering at the Flash Museum he discovered Speed Force residue on the various items used by the Flash Family.  Siphoning that energy to gain his own form of super-speed, Eobard used the Cosmic Treadmill to travel back in time in order for Thawne to become the Flash's new side-kick.

Rejected by his hero, Thawne swore revenge.  Learning how Allen gained his connection to the Speed Force, he recreated the accident to grant himself permanent super-speed.  He then went on a crusade to kill Barry and replace him as the Flash.  After many years, the Reverse-Flash would prove to be the Flash's greatest foe and the one he was never able to fully defeat.

In order to stop him, the golden age Quicksilver, Maxwell Mercury plucked a young Eobard out of time when he was just a brilliant teenager.   He was then transported to 20th Century where he was adopted by the Allens in order to give him a less troubled upbringing.  When Thawne inexplicably and spontaneously developed his own connection to the Speed Force, it was decided that he would join the Hammond Institute.

Joining the school he made friends with fellow students Kentauride, Mary Marvel, Staci the She-Hulk, and Melinoe.  When the group was transferred to become Team Gamma of The Avengers, he joined them and took on the code-name of Mercury.

He would encounter his older self, the Reverse-Flash on several occasions with the elder Thawne attempting to tempt him to the dark side.  During the original incident at Pleasent Hill, when Nate Grey channeled the Anti-Life Equation, the Reverse-Flash would become infected and turn into a time paradox separate chronologically from Mercury.  The younger Thawne received a vision of the future where he inherited the mantle of the Flash but lived in a world beset by zombies.

When the Watchtower incident seemingly killed all the world's heroes, the older Thawne allied himself with Lex Luthor, joining The Squadron Supreme as the "hero" The Blur.  While working with Stormwatch, Luthor discovered traces of the Anti-Life Equation within his body.  Just before Stormwatch was disbanded, Luthor sent the Blur on a mission to Pleasant Hills, where he re-infected Nate Grey and caused the infamous Anti-Life Incident.

A part of X-Man's Anti-Army, Blur fought the Team Alpha in Pleasent Hills.  After Nate was accidentally killed by Darkseid's Omega Beams, the Blur's connection to the Negative Speed Force and the Anti-Life Equation was severed.  Enraged by his defeat, the Reverse-Flash screamed at the heroes as reality wiped his current self from existence. 

The current status of Eobard Thawne in the time-stream has not been revealed, although Mercury also disappeared from the time-stream.

A YJA Moment - Cable and X-Man

In an alternate dark future, Nathan Daystrom Summers, the child of Jean Grey and Scott Summers was fighting a losing rebellion against the forces of the Anti-Life Equation.  One by one the forces of free humanity fell to the insidious infection that was the Equation.  The aging speedster, the Flash, Eobard Thawne had just been killed and now Nathan himself was the only metahuman left unaffected.  

Nathan Daystum Summers.  Cable.  A man that the Equation felt was the perfect vessel for its essence.

Cable searched for the source of the Anti-Life.  He was aided by strange visions that seemed to be forgotten memories but couldn't have been.  The reflections in the mirror looked like him but subtly different.  It was impossible that he had forgotten a completely different life.  Then at the heart of the Equation infection, in a place that once was known as Pleasent Hill, he found the source of his hallucinations.

It was him.  Or rather, a recreation of him.

The man who Cable named X-Man was Nathan Grey.  Presumably spurred on by the knowledge of the future, a 21st-century geneticist called Nathanael Essex took genetic material from Jean Grey and Scott Summers and made his own version of Cable.  Seeking to improve already potent psychic abilities, he added New God DNA into the mix.  

X-Man attacked Cable immediately and nearly killed him.  In order to flee from the compound, Cable had to tax his own telepathic and telekinetic abilities to their maximum, almost completely burning himself out.  Despite this, he was gravely wounded in his escape and had to be cybernetically reconstructed. 

Obtaining a time machine, Cable went into the past.  He first plucked X-Man during his mid-teens and flung him into the further past.  When that didn't seem to change the future for the better, he went into the past himself to do what he needed to do.  Along with mercenaries Domino and Deadpool he would kill Nate Grey once and for all.

The trio's attack on the Hammond Institute would fail and Cable found himself incarcerated.  He would later join the Avengers as Team Omega and would aid them in their battles against Weapons Plus and The Light.

Always in the back of his mind was the vision of his "twin brother", the swirling epicenter of a storm that would end all of creation.   Now despite everything that has happened.  Despite everything that he and his allies have done.  That vision was coming true.

Serving as host and beacon to the Anti-Life Equation, Nate drew Darkseid to Pleasant Hills.  During the battle, the New God decimated the assembled heroes and was about to kill Mel with his Omega Beams.  X-Man was able to snap out his trance long enough to interpose himself in from of the goddess.  Despite all of his telekinetic strength, the beams cut through the force-shield and obliterated Nate into dust.

A YJA Moment - The Fall of the Light

In the ancient past, the warlord known in the modern days as Vandal Savage encountered an alien for the first time.  Thanos, the renegade son of Darkseid, had come to Earth seeking the Anti-Life Equation and take it for his own.  The confrontation between the two was apparently illuminating, for afterward Savage sought out an audience with the Lord of Apokalips himself and offered him his aid, in exchange for rulership of the Earth.

Thus the greatest collection of super-villains with a singular goal of world domination was formed. Not just to rule the world, but to preserve it from the firepits of Apocalips and the cruel machinations of Darkseid.  A "Light" in the Darkness.  The Light.

The purpose of The Reach was to aid the Light in taking over the world, giving them needed technologies and also to help them discover the metahumans.  The Anti-Life Equation turns normal humans into mindless zombies, but metahumans become more malleable slaves under its effects.  The Light was also working to undermine the Reach, eventually hoiping to have the forces of Apocalips finish them off.

One of the main projects of the Light was the creation of Nate Grey.  Using the blood of Thanos kept by Savage, plus the DNA of metahumans Scott Summers and Jean Grey, they used the rogue geneticist Nathanial Essex to build a proper vessel for the Anti-Life Equation, should it be found.

When the Reach was defeated by the Justice League and their covert-operations Team, Vandal Savage took the Warworld and defected to serve Apokalips directly, figuring it was better to rule in Hell than serving time in prison. This forced Lex Luthor to take control of the Light and forge an alliance with the power-hungry individuals within Weapons Plus.

Luthor initiated Project: Stormwatch which would replace the world's heroes with ones of his making.  Gaining the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations, he undermined the League until his opportunity to destroy them manifested themselves.  Obliterating the Watchtower with an anti-matter missile, he then replaced the Justice League with a team he called the Squadron Supreme which headlined a group he called Stormwatch.

The forces at Weapons Plus were concerned for the United States and cared nothing for the world or the ultimate plans of the Light.  After Luthor convinced the American government to allow Checkmate to absorb the Office of National Emergency, Weapons Plus cut all ties with the Light and gave Luthor notice not to interfere with the United States from this point onward.

Then the combined force of the Justice League and The Avengers, who had been actually saved by the machinations of Rip Hunter, launched a campaign to deal with Stormwatch and Luthor once and for all.  Gathering evidence of their treasonous activities, the heroes located the mysterious Skywatch, an alien vessel gifted to Savage years ago by Thanos which existed in the space between dimensions known as The Bleed.

The attack on Skywatch was swift and at its end, the base was destroyed, the members of the Squadron Supreme were defeated and Luthor himself was in custody in The Outland, the pocket dimension where the assembled heroes based their operations.

Yet even in defeat Luthor had an ace up his sleeve.  After Weapons Plus defected, Lex had discovered the Anti-Life equation residing in one of his Squadron Supreme members, Eobard Thawne, aka The Blur or The Reverse-Flash.  In revenge his sent the Blur on a "mission" to Pleasent Hills to kill Nate Grey, knowing that instead Nate would become infected by the Anti-Life and become the vessel for they had designed him to be.

With Pleasent Hills now a beacon radiating the Anti-Life Equation, it's only a matter of time before the forces of Apocalips or maybe Darkseid himself will arrive to claim their prize.