Overlords-verse: Task force X

Or as they’re more often referred to as, the suicide squad. At this point, I’ve pretty much ran out of characters that actually appear, so from here on out, it’s pretty much just world building. I may even add a story at some point. Also, this is gonna be really long. Should’a done it in two parts, but too late now. We’ll go from left to right.

Livewire
Formally a radio host named Leslie Willis, Livewire always had a hatred of the so called ‘superhero’. It was during a freak storm that she was struck by lightning, and gained her new powers. Seeing this as an opportunity to take out her anger, she set upon a course to destroy the image of the nations heroes, focussing on Superman, one of the oldest American heroes. Of course, Superman was able to defeat her and she was dragged kicking and screaming to Belle Reve prison for metahumans.

So, for many years, she went in circles of freedom and imprisonment. Until one fateful day, Darkseid invaded Earth. This did not affect the residents of Belle Reve, as the prison was a subterrainian structure, completely isolated from the world. It was only after the Millennium war that things started going wrong. Eventually, news spread that Superman had proclaimed leadership over the Earth, ultimately proving Livewire right. As she so often claimed, she knew that the so called ‘superheroes’ only wanted one thing: power.

It was in 2006 when she, along with other inmates, were approached by the warden, one Amanda Waller. She offered the inmates a chance. A chance for freedom. They had only one task: Kill Superman. This was it. The chance Livewire had been waiting for. Screw the reward, she had spent her whole life building up to this.

Captain cold:
Leonard Snart had always been a criminal. From stealing cars in his teens, to robbing banks in his forties. For years, he’d had beef with the Flash. From the original, to his replacement. It was quite nice really. He was pretty much a celebrity in the criminal underworld. But, one can only run for so long. inevitably, he was caught and sent to prison, Iron heights penitentiary.

He was a quiet prisoner, who, despite his ‘celebrity’ status, stayed relatively quiet. Until the millennial war. The prison was wrecked, almost destroyed by Darkseid forces. Seeing his opportunity, Snart fled, only to be recaptured days later, by, you guessed it, the Flash. But with Iron heights in ruins, where was he to be sent? Belle Reve.

And so, for 5 years, Snart continued his sentence. Until He was approached by the warden, who offered him a choice. Freedom for a job. She said that his skills were needed to pull off this job, so he was needed. The job? Kill Superman.

Harley Quinn:
Formerly a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, Dr Quinzel was driven mad. Partly by her work environment, and the nut-jobs and whacko’s she worked with, but mostly by her love for the Joker. Helping him escape, she went on to live a life of crime by her lovers side.

During the Millennium war, she did what most non-powered villains did. Hide. In one of her brief moments of sanity, she was able to convince the Joker that they would do best to hide, after all, who would torment the Bat if her puddin’ was dead?

It was only after the murder of Jason Todd, the second Robin in 2004, that Harley was captured and imprisoned for murder, ironically, in Arkham. At least, that was what she was told. She was actually sent to Belle Reve, as part of a secret project.

There, she was approached by the warden, promising her freedom, and her life, in exchange for a favour. Kill Superman.

Scarecrow:
Joanna Crane had always had a…fascination with fear. It all came to fruition when she gained a PhD in chemistry, and an MD in psychology. Naturally, she was drawn to Arkham asylum, where she took her fascinations to the next level: experimentation on the inmates. For years she took great joy in testing her fear gasses on patients in her care, seeing what made them tick. Eventually however, she grew tired of seeing what criminals fear. She wanted more. She wanted to find out what drove the Superhero, more specifically, what drove Batman.

And so for many years, she played the long game. Tracking, trapping and experimenting on Batman. Unfortunately for her, she only had one opportunity to properly expose the Batman to her toxins. It yielded results, yes, but not nearly enough. Just as she peeled back the inner layers of his psyche, the police found her hideout and arrested her, later imprisoning her in Arkham asylum.

She spent many years locked away, away from the world, away from her patients and, most importantly, away from her toxins. She needed her toxins, craved them almost. She also craved knowledge. What made the Batman tick. She drove herself half mad thinking about it, day and night. By her second year of incarceration, her cell walls were thick with drawings, chemical symbols and her prized possession: her notes.

But it was in 2005 when things took a turn for the better. She received news that she was to be transferred to Belle Reve prison, where she could receive ‘better’ treatment for her illness. However, this turned out to be a lie. Instead, she was taken to a dark room, and strapped to a chair. Out of the shadows stepped the warden, Amanda Waller. She offered Joanna the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to expose someone to her fear gas. This in itself was very tempting to Joanna. It had been years since she had been separated from her precious gas, longer had it been since she experimented with it. Better still, Waller informed her, it wasn’t just any person she could experiment on. It was Superman.

Deadshot:
Floyd Lawton had always had exceptional skill with a gun. Any gun. After retiring from the army in 1988, Lawton was bored. And so, he found himself becoming a mercenary, anything for the thrill of a good shot. He went on to claim many lives, some well known and some obscure. There were even rumours among the criminal underworld that he’d shot JFK. Ridiculous of course, but he lapped it up. He was, in his opinion, the best sniper in the world. Never missed, never caught.

Until he tangled with the worlds finest, Batman and Superman. He was tracked by Batman, and captured by Superman. He was locked away, and the key thrown away. For twelve years he was imprisoned. Twelve years away from the world. but that didn’t bother him. What bothered him was that he’d never see his little girl grow up. He could never regain the time he should have spent with her.

At least, that was what he thought. After the millennium war, he was transferred to Belle Reve, and was introduced to the warden. With his vast military experience, and gun handling skills, he was the perfect person. In Wallers eyes, the perfect person to command task force X.

Killer Croc:
From a young age, Waylon Jones knew he was…different. He was taller than the other kids his age. He had hard skin and…ridges along the sides of his head. Raised by his abusive aunt, Waylon decided that he had to escape. And so, at just 15, he ran away. Because of his disfigurement and freakish appearance, he found himself unwelcome pretty much anywhere.

So, he found himself living in the sewers, living of rats, and the odd homeless person. Despite this, he lived a peaceful life. Until rumours of crocodile men living in Gothams sewers peaked the interest of Batman. The dark knight ventured down into the sewers, in search of the so called ‘Killer Croc’. He found him. Naturally, Waylon reacted aggressively. Wrong move. After a long and exhausting fight with Batman, Waylon was defeated, and hauled off to Belle Reve.

Not knowing what to do with him, the wardens thought it best to just put him in a sectioned off area of the sewers and…try to forget about him. So, the years went by and almost everyone forgot about him. Almost. One person never forgot. She knew he would come in useful some day. And, with the aftermath of the millennium war, that day came. Waller approached Waylon, now 37, and much more resembling a crocodile, and offered him a chance. A chance at living a normal life. Of being accepted. Waylon wasn’t interested. He had lived his whole life like this, what good would changing himself be. Smirking, Waller told him he could live in the sewers of Gotham, undisturbed by the Batman. She’d make sure of it. ‘But what’s the catch’ Waylon asked. ‘A favour’ was Wallers answer.

Captain Boomerang:
Coming from Australia to America in the seventies, George ‘Digger’ Harkness only had one thing on his mind: Bank robbery. He’d made quite a name for himself back home, for robbing bank, and now he thought it was time to become internationally known as the best bank robber in the world.

What he hadn’t expected was a fella’ in red, darting around, stopping him at every turn. That wasn’t on. So for years, he harboured a rivalry with the costumed hero known as the Flash. He even went so far as to joining a gang of criminals calling themselves ‘The Rogues’. For years, he ran with the Rogues, staging elaborate exploits to try to put the Flash out of commission, although, they failed every time. This went on for a while before Digger decided he’d had enough. In 1986, he retired as Captain Boomerang, and tried to live a normal life. For a brief time, he joined the Circus, under an assumed identity of course.

This went on for a short time before he settled down and assumed a normal life. He got a job working on cars of all things, and, for once in his life, he was content. Until his past life came to the surface and he was reported by his boss to the police. He was arrested and sent to iron heights, where he spent a miserable 10 years imprisoned. Occasionally, other rogues would be imprisoned there too, and they’d share tales of the times they ‘almost’ killed the Flash.

This all came to an end however, when he was, without warning, transferred to Belle Reve, and asked by the warden to join her team, in exchange for freedom. ‘Yes’ he thought. He could regain his life on the outside. Of course, he had to do something in return: Kill Superman.

Bane:
Prison was no stranger to Bane. His earliest memories were in a prison. Santa Prisca. the place where he felt most at home. Until he grew tired of beating up the same criminals over and over again. After all, being King of a self contained kingdom is boring. Along with a few others, he escaped.

He eventually found his way to Gotham city, a city he’d heard to be ruled by fear and sin. Bane had a feeling he’d do well here. Until he actually arrived, and heard that a ‘bat-creature’ was roaming the streets and cutting out crime. Bane had always hated bats, ever since he was a little boy back in Santa Prisca. But he was set on making Gotham his kingdom, so decided to rid the city of the so called ‘Batman".

After many years of information gathering, Bane was ready. In his studies of the Batman, he had uncovered the truth. He had the Batmans secret identity: Bruce Wayne. He had also obtained a new steroid, known as Venom, which greatly boosted his strength and stamina, but sacrificing brain power. He was ready to make Gotham his own.

Catching Batman by surprise in his Batcave, Bane was easily able to break the bat. For a time, he was Gothams reckoning, it’s King. Until Batman returned and beat him. Bane was imprisoned in Belle Reve, and spent many years going back and forth between freedom and imprisonment. It was during the latter that the millennial war struck and the natural order was overturned. The warden came to Bane, and offered him the opportunity of a life time: the chance to bend steel. The man of steel. This was a chance too good to miss. He had broken the bat, and now he had the opportunity to break the strongest hero of them all: Superman.

Posted by Blue Box Bricks on 2018-03-21 22:01:25

Tagged: , Suicide , squad , Livewire , Captain , Cold , Harley , Quinn , Scarecrow , Deadshot , Killer , Croc , Boomerang , Bane