Lex Sedet In Vertice: A Supervillain in the DCU CK2 quest

[Gumiho]

Whale was getting released on parole from Blackgate for good behavior but James suspected it had more to do with Black Masks arrival into the prison.

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We should anonymously send old Toby a muffin basket whilst making a reference so he knows its from us, in celebration of his parole.

To let him know we remember our time together and remeber him A̶n̶g̶r̶i̶l̶y̶... fondly.

 

[Torgamous]

The self-proclaimed "Crown Prince of Crime"

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Gordon does not abide a pun.

Tetch and Wesker were safely incarcerated in Arkham with the Riddler being soon to follow if Batman's correspondence was to be believed.

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This scared me for a second until I remembered there's another one.

 

[Negation]

In general Junior was growing out of hand getting violent and aggressive and showing some aggressive tendencies that James didn't know where they came from. His resentment of Barbara and need to constantly drag others down was getting disturbing. James had even screamed at Junior when he saw his son vivisecting a rat asking his son what was wrong with him. James regretted doing so afterwards but he didn't know how to deal with his son's behavior especially since James couldn't figure out why he was acting the way he did. James didn't know what to do and he and Eileen had started to fight a lot more over what to do with Junior.

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Prehaps we should provide Young Mr Gordon with an internship and apprentice him to Dr Moon?

It seems a waste for such a bright young man to grow up and be a mere Serial Killer. Surely the advancement of SCIENCE!!! is a better outlet for his violent tendencies.

 

[Mr.W]

So we've got four problems we've got to prepare for in Gotham.

1. Scarecrow trying to gas us.
2. KGBeast trying to kill us.
3. The Fake Riddler screwing with us.
4. Whale trying to pull something on us.

 

[Thanatosra]

Oh dammit I forgot we agreed to go their for Ra's.

 

[Torgamous]

So we've got four problems we've got to prepare for in Gotham.

1. Scarecrow trying to gas us.
2. KGBeast trying to kill us.
3. The Fake Riddler screwing with us.
4. Whale trying to pull something on us.

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Whale, at least, should know better, and we're planning on trying to handle Fake Riddler the turn before we go there, if Batman doesn't get him first.

Besides, Lex Luthor would be just the worst target for a Riddler. They spend all that time making a riddle-based death trap for Batman, and Lex just shouts all the answers from his dramatically slow execution mechanism.

 

[Mr.W]

I've come up with a hilarious idea to screw with Superman.

[] Make a statue of Superman made entirely out of Kryptonite.

Here's a potential Nemesis action @King crimson.

 

[King crimson]

I've come up with a hilarious idea to screw with Superman.

[] Make a statue of Superman made entirely out of Kryptonite.

Here's a potential Nemesis action @King crimson.

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Someone actually came up with this way back in the initial rounds of the game. The option will be available as soon as you learn that he is weak to Kryptonite.

 

[Negation]

So where would we be staying in Gotham? Kane Hotel or Hotel Belle Monico?

I assume Kane Hotel to reassure Katherine's family that she is in our favour and she is "networking".

 

[jonasquinn]

I definitely think we should try and deal with Whale's blackmail sometime soon, just because he's afraid of Lex doesn't mean he won't try and fuck us over as soon as an opportunity arises

As for other problems that might kick off while we're in Gotham the three that come to mind are Joker breaking out and doi his thing, Scarecrow trying something or The Menagerie's growing poor vs rich mentality spilling over when the second richest man in the country comes to visit

Though if Scarecrow is still playing vigilante as opposed to straight up villain I don't know why he'd go after Lex

 

[Torgamous]

Though if Scarecrow is still playing vigilante as opposed to straight up villain I don't know why he'd go after Lex

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I wouldn't be surprised if our frequently retroactively justified paranoia interests him enough to break character.

The point might be moot, though. Jonathan Crane is currently working on an antidote, and as a respectable scientist with no conflicts of interest I trust him to finish it before we get there.

 

[Simon_Jester]

We should anonymously send old Toby a muffin basket whilst making a reference so he knows its from us, in celebration of his parole.


To let him know we remember our time together and remeber him A̶n̶g̶r̶i̶l̶y̶... fondly.

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Honestly I'd rather not. We spooked the bastard; that's why he chose to spend years in prison to be relatively safe from us.


If he never ever feels like he has any reason to use that blackmail dossier and we never cross paths with him again, I'll be pretty happy. We definitely shouldn't do anything that makes him think we might renew the vendetta.

So we've got four problems we've got to prepare for in Gotham.

Scarecrow trying to gas us.
KGBeast trying to kill us.
The Fake Riddler screwing with us.
Whale trying to pull something on us.

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Also, if we somehow manage to grab Harleen Quinzel out of Arkham as the company psychiatrist (and I have heard it suggested and suggested it myself), well... the Joker may take more notice of us because he may have already been working on her.

Also, Catwoman's gang trying to rob us. That's a possibility.

I definitely think we should try and deal with Whale's blackmail sometime soon, just because he's afraid of Lex doesn't mean he won't try and fuck us over as soon as an opportunity arises

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OK, but if we're gonna do that, we should do it at a time when we're ready to make a maximum-effort push, with no distractions, at a time when Whale isn't expecting it. We have no idea what the DC is, an failure almost certainly means the blackmail dossier gets revealed.

All things considered, I'd rather rely on Whale's finely developed sense of self-preservation and knowledge that NOT releasing the dossier is literally the only thing that gives us a reason to keep him alive, when we already wanted him dead before we knew he had it.

 

[jonasquinn]

All things considered, I'd rather rely on Whale's finely developed sense of self-preservation and knowledge that NOT releasing the dossier is literally the only thing that gives us a reason to keep him alive, when we already wanted him dead before we knew he had it

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I'd agree with you but I'm concerned that as superheroes become more and more common Tobias might feel comfortable throwing us under the bus

 

[Simon_Jester]

I'd agree with you but I'm concerned that as superheroes become more and more common Tobias might feel comfortable throwing us under the bus

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I mean, the underlying dynamic (we can probably have Whale killed any time we like if we really want to, and if he unleashes his blackmail we have absolutely no reason to let him live) won't change.

 

[jonasquinn]

I mean, the underlying dynamic (we can probably have Whale killed any time we like if we really want to, and if he unleashes his blackmail we have absolutely no reason to let him live) won't change.

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No but as Superman becomes more well known and the Justice League starts up he might start to feel confident that if he gave them the information he has on us then they'd manage to arrest us before we can retaliate

 

[Simon_Jester]

No but as Superman becomes more well known and the Justice League starts up he might start to feel confident that if he gave them the information he has on us then they'd manage to arrest us before we can retaliate

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Whale's blackmail evidence is unlikely to be so reliable that the JLA or a similar group could arrest us without investigation.

Also, we could have a "dead man's switch" arrangement in place, much like Whale's. Indeed, that would be a fairly reasonable precaution, quite similar to what Whale himself did. And given that we ARE the kind of guy who illicitly procured his own nuclear-tipped ICBM, the idea that we might do other lesser things to ensure that an enemy who beats us cannot profit by our downfall would hardly be surprising.

 

[Gumiho]

Also, we could have a "dead man's switch" arrangement in place, much like Whale's. Indeed, that would be a fairly reasonable precaution, quite similar to what Whale himself did.

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We should take steps like this actually, i agree with you Whale surely knows hes a dead man walking if he ever releases that blackmail material. But just incase, we should set up a dead man contract switch to have him killed if he does go against our unofficial understanding.

 

[King crimson]

Finals have been completed. Rapid updates will be arriving soon.

On top of that while a slight snafu with the computer occurred the only thing that will be significantly delayed is my big post on character themes as I see them. The Lobo interlude, End of the JSA Interlude, Part 5 of the main quest, the creative writing contest and the added part of Secrets and Lies in Jump City that will transition into another episode are all scheduled to come out on time.

 

[Simon_Jester]

@King crimson

What do you think of the vote option:

[] Set up "dead man's switch" contingency

This would cover Lex taking steps in advance to ensure that if a certain condition occurs that defeats him or diminishes his power of action, something else will happen.

For example, Lex might arrange matters so that if Lex is arrested and includes such-and-such a code phrase in a public statement, Lady Vic gets a big pile of money to kill Tobias Whale. Obviously no such arrangement could be perfect and future events might make it obsolete or meaningless, but it seems like something Lex could do. The big problem would be that the DC would be highly variable depending on the precise nature of what we were trying to accomplish.

The XP should go to @Gumiho if this or some variant of it is accepted, frankly; Gumiho's the one who suggested actually doing it.

 

[King crimson]

@King crimson

What do you think of the vote option:

[] Set up "dead man's switch" contingency

This would cover Lex taking steps in advance to ensure that if a certain condition occurs that defeats him or diminishes his power of action, something else will happen.

For example, Lex might arrange matters so that if Lex is arrested and includes such-and-such a code phrase in a public statement, Lady Vic gets a big pile of money to kill Tobias Whale. Obviously no such arrangement could be perfect and future events might make it obsolete or meaningless, but it seems like something Lex could do. The big problem would be that the DC would be highly variable depending on the precise nature of what we were trying to accomplish.

The XP should go to @Gumiho if this or some variant of it is accepted, frankly; Gumiho's the one who suggested actually doing it.

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Sorry I took forever to respond to this.

There will be an option called [ ] establish contingencies that will include a dead man's switch contingency.

Gumiho has earned 100 exp.

 

[King crimson]

I've got very mixed feelings on this interlude. Lobo as always is really hard to get right and keep funny and I think this pretty much ended up being a little more serious then I should have made it. Still I think the general story turned out okay and I hope Lobo was still entertaining. I'll probably be posting Secrets and Lies in Jump City part 4 on the 17th but I have no guarantees. Everything else is going to be on schedule with it maybe appearing later in the day as I finally post in my snippet thread for the first time in a few months.

Lobo Interlude: The Ice Man Cometh and then Immediately Goeth to Hell
Lobo AKA The Main Man AKA The Best There is at What he Does and What He Does isn't Censor Friendly
The Main Man knew that when you were the best at something, inevitably bastiches would try to frag you. It was practically part of the kriffing dodecahedron of life. Sure there were probably some steps that were between being born, fragging people, having people try to frag you and then making all of the people who came after you regret that they ever had been born and going on to frag more people but those steps were for pansies and losers.

Still though, every once in a while some bastiche came along and thought they could take down the Main Man because he hadn't wiped out a planet that week. The Main Man generally shot them out of principle and then proceeded to murderize them if they were still standing. After all competition was bad enough for business but competition that wanted you gone was even worse for business. At least the bounty hunters could generally be respected. The moralistic types made the Main Man want to end their whole race every time they started talking about how he was wrong and a monster and all that other kriffing nonsense. And even worse than the bastiches who wouldn't be quiet and let him enjoy the ultraviolence were those cowardly asses who tried to execute some complex master plan that involved a million stupid moving parts and never stayed in one place for the Main Man to frag them. Those bastiches were the worst. So when the Main Man finished his job of killing and maiming with Billy the Girl despite the interference of Tommy Kriffing Tomorrow, the Main Man was pissed when he heard that some upjumped, deadbrained bastiche had gotten the bright idea of trying to lure him out by hunting down space dolphins.

Now the Main Man was by no means some soft-bellied, lily-livered candy-ass pansy but he still adored space dolphins. They were the best. There was a sort of purity and innocence to space dolphins. They did what they wanted to do how they wanted to do it and did it without flinging crap around like a bunch of bastiches trying to prove who had the biggest balls in the building. Hell they were probably the only kind of animal that didn't resort to fleeing or failing to murder Lobo on sight. That earned some serious props. They didn't harm nobody and while they'd frag an unprepared bastiche who thought he could mess with them they were fairly free of being as messed up as the rest of the universe. The Main Man knew space dolphins were the best and should be both protected and respected.

And some poor dumb bastiche had caught a terminal case of death when he'd specifically hurt pods of those magnificent creatures in order to draw him out. Well the plan worked and Lobo was going to go frag the bastiche and leave him as a warning to the rest of the universe not to mess with space dolphins when Lobo was around. Lobo hopped on his hog and headed out to the planet Slifer to make good on his threats.

As he arrived on the planet, the Main Man spotted the smug bastiche standing over a downed space dolphin, triumphantly smirking.

"Welcome Lobo" The pompous prick in white started spewing "You can call me the Ice Man. I am here to end you and collect your bounty for I am..."

Lobo promptly punched the mouthy moron so hard he was sent flying into a nearby reddish orange mountain. Lobo took a moment to make sure the space dolphin was alright and then set off after the downed prick. He had his priorities in order and did his good deed for the century so now he was free to kill and maim to his hearts content.

"How dare you!" The so-called Ice Man shrilly screamed. The Main Man just handed the bastiche his card.

"If you can read this, I haven't hit you hard enough?" The Ice Man confusedly read.

"Let me fix that" The main Man growled out as he began wailing on the Ice Man pounding him into the dirt. As he beat the bastiche down the Main Man realized how disappointing it all was. The Ice Man wasn't even able to give him a good fight. As the Main Man stopped his pummeling in the hopes of finding an appropriate way to end this fight, the Ice Man suddenly started glowing white and fled from the somewhat bored Lobo.

"Fun's just getting started!" the Main Man cried out as he whipped out his chains to catch the fleeing bastiche who'd managed to provoke him. As he did so however the fleeing coward froze the chains and shattered them before. The Main Man's rage then doubled and tripled and quadrupled. Those chains were expensive. He was going to kill this bastiche, bring him back to life, kill him again, kill his entire extended family and then kill him again. Lobo was pissed and people who pissed him off came in two types, the dead and the dying.

Lobo whistled and his spacehog flew out to him. He got on and pulled out a gun to start firing at the fleeing bastiche who thought he could take on the Main Man. Blasts of energy peppered the canyon as the coward suddenly pulled up and tried to shake Lobo off his tail. The Main Man just gunned it and prepared to gun him down. This called for one of the big guns, literally. Lobo pulled out an old spaceship canon and took aim. The blast proceeded to level an entire mountain range and stunned the fleeing bastiche. Lobo then ran him over with his spacehog. Nobody messed with the Main Man and got out of it without a major heaping helping of pain.

Lobo turned around and shot out the fleeing bastards kneecap as he got off his hog to get real close to bastiche he wanted to disembowel. However as he stepped closer the Ice Man managed to land a blast that froze Lobo's gun hand. How annoying.

"If you don't stay away then I'll ice you entirely" The once cocky mercenary spluttered "It won't kill you but I'm sure you won't appreciate being stuck in one place"

The Main Man didn't take orders from a bastiche he was goign to frag. Lobo stepped forwards.

"I ain't worried about a little cold" The Main Man menacingly mentioned "And I can't beat the shit out of you without getting closer"

The pompous bastiche screamed about how he was going to frag Lobo as he let out a powerful energy blast. Lobo just sidestepped it. He then tore off his frozen arm and used it to begin bludgeoning the Ice Man.

"You wanted my attention well now you've got it!" Lobo yelled as he proceeded to beat the bastard bloody "But the Main Man's got a reputation to keep and anyone dumb enough to not get that is going to be fragged so hard they'll serve as a lesson on terminal stupidity. And you decided to go ahead and volunteer"

Lobo's arm had regenerated by then and he tossed aside his improvised bludgeon before reaching down and ripping the Ice Man in half. For all that he was an energy being, the Ice Man still screamed like he was getting his entrails ripped out like a normal person. Lobo wondered if when he turned back the Ice Man would bleed out anew. He pulled out a hook on a chain and stabbed it through the bastiche's shoulder. Time for the Main Man to make a demonstration.

"You won't get away with this" The Ice Man quietly said in defiance as though Lobo hadn't practically fragged the bastiche already "I won't let you kill me"

"Who said anything about killing you icecube?" the Main Man mockingly smirked "You're an example. I'm not going to kill you that's counterproductive to making sure everyone knows exactly how stupid you are. I'm going to take you for a ride"

And with that Lobo tied the chain hooked into Ice Man's flesh to his spacehog. He revved up the engine and flew off, dragging the Ice Man behind him screaming all the way. Lobo would make sure that everyone got to hear him shout before he was done with him. The bastiche would be shredded burned and wrecked while Lobo had his fun and eventually put him out of his own misery and sent him straight to hell. The Main Man gunned it as the sounds of screaming were music to his ears while he flew off to go to his next job.

 

[Mr.W]

You know I wonder where all of Wonder Woman's rogues are going to face off against.

Since Wonder Woman isn't a superhero in this continuity that means that they're probably going to become members of other superheroes rogues galleries.

 

[King crimson]

Creative Writing Guidelines: Superman's Arrival

So I figured that now would be as good a time as any to spell out the next creative writing contest. While the tv show contest is still going strong (and Swedish15 is still steadily plugging away at the Camelot show if you want to check that out) I figured you all would enjoy the chance to try and win a prize on your own. As such this is the contest you are looking for.

So what is the contest? Essentially it is a chance for you to write characters reaction to Superman's debut and his arrival as the first true superhero. In the update tomorrow I'll be bringing in an interview Lois Lane had with Superman that will serve as much of the world's introduction to him as a person rather than as a force of nature. As such the impact of this moment cannot be understated and it will change the world forever. The quest is now truly entering the age of superheroes and villains.

All you need to do to enter is write an omake about a character reacting to Superman's debut and tag me (@King crimson) above the title and I will add it to the running. You can write both canon and non-canon entries although each author can only win once. I will warn people that certain POV's (Lex, Lois and Mercy) will 100% be non-canon no matter what since I will be writing those myself. Other POV's may become non-canon if I decide to add more but the sooner you get it up the sooner things will be safe for you to deal with. On top of that vague impressions of other characters will be made (Eiling doesn't trust Superman, the President wants to coopt Superman as an American, Ra's al Ghul is super paranoid about Superman etc.) so that is something to keep in mind when thinking about what will and won't be canonized.

So on top of being able to win exp (which you always can get with omakes) you can earn additional prizes. Firstly the top five placers will be able to ask for a character to show up in the Lex of many Worlds omake I'm writing for this quest's one year anniversary. Secondly, the top three placers in the contest will be able to request an omake from a list of the ones I'll give them including other character reacting to Superman's debut (a way to gather OOC information), a tale from an alternate earth (pretty much just for fun, a look into Wolf-Batman (a crossover idea with A:TLA) and/or a look into some non-canon stories and ideas I'm working on to post for the quest. Thirdly the first place finisher will get a behind the curtain peek at my process for writing a character of their choice. All of these things and more are available as prizes. On top of all of that everyone who participates in this contest will get a vote for one last prize that will be available to the whole thread.

The contest will be open until July 10th at which point it will close. I look forward to seeing people's creativity with this prompt and am looking forward to being able to positively interact with the thread a bit more. Thank you all for making this quest as amazing as it has been and while the first year of its life span approaches its end I hope you continue to support and enjoy this quest throughout the (currently planned) approximately two more years of updates. Thank you for everything!

Edit: The contest is now closed


Entries:

• Superman's Arrival - Bane by Kir the Wizard
• Joker's Delight - Joker (non-canon) by Swedish15
• That Devilish Spark - Leslie Willis by Simon Jester
• Dissection Trial #14 - Dr. Moon by HavocOrder0999
• Superman's Arrival - Red Tornado by Negation

 

[King crimson]

The update will be arriving tomorrow and then hopefully assuming no complications I will be able to regularly update every two days or so before speeding back up to once a day once the one year anniversary arrives again.

Below are a list of characters I recommend writing from their perspective for the contest if people are interested. By no means does this list cover everyone and it in fact leaves off several major figures but I do think these are some less obvious picks people might be interested in writing:

• Bane
• Director Bones
• Ignition
• Barry Allen
• Hal Jordan
• Jimmy Olsen
• Cassandra Luthor
• The Joker
• Edward Nygma
• Red Tornado
• The Brain
• Leslie Willis
• Winslow Schlott
• Count Vertigo
• Zatanna
• Citizen Abra

 

[King crimson]

I added Vivian and Constance D'Aramis' stats and traits to the character sheet. Their coop scores along with Robert Frost's everything will arrive tomorrow.