Hi ! I'm A'n !

Marcus Crane, "Lovesick"

Things changed when his mother unexpectedly passed-- she had gotten into an accident on the way home from work; Marcus had been told that it was suspected that she fell asleep behind the wheel. Mother hadn't planned to die so early in her son's life-- she had no one to leave him to, no one to care for him when she was gone. So the state contacted the only person possible: his father.

When Marcus met his father, things were rather.. awkward. An awkward hug and some greetings, some paperwork signed, and next thing he knew, he was in the back of his father's car headed towards Gotham, New Jersey-- quite a distance from his home in Georgia. Apparently his father was originally from Georgia, too, according to Mother. Marcus had asked his father if the things Mother said about him were true, to which his father replied, "Yes."

Marcus asked if he'd ever do the things his mother said he'd done to him.

He was met with silence.

The rest of his childhood answered the question well enough.

Much of his remaining childhood was filled with fear, combined with a strange attachment to his father. Something of a resentment for his mother and the abuse she had put him through, something of a fear of having no one else. As much as his father tormented him, he had an understanding that it was out of some odd form of love or care, or the closest thing to it that Crane could express. Crane explained his own tumultuous childhood to Marcus-- how his own father used him for cruel experiments to study fear. How he never truly grasped how one could do that to their son-- that is, until he mastered fear. He simply wanted to help Marcus master fear as well, he simply wanted to show him what life could be when you learn to overcome it. At least, that's what he told Marcus. Truthfully, Crane's treatment of Marcus was simply another experiment-- almost even an expansion of his father's previous work: a test not only of fear, but of attachment and how it produces fear. Who better to inflict this study upon than the clingy, timid child, raised in the perfect storm to create anxiety and need. Marcus spent the rest of his childhood homeschooled, deeply isolated from any peers; he grew up on a secluded farmhouse, apparently not too dissimilar to Crane's childhood home. Marcus' education was extensive and advanced, combined with combat training and escape planning in the event their life was uprooted by authorities. Marcus learned how to act upon all fear responses-- fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. As a child, he'd have nightmares about Batman coming to take his father away permanently. Crane often assured Marcus that these fears were to be expected-- "To master fear, one must first immerse himself in it."

An overexposure of fear toxin at such a young age, combined with the cruel trials his father put him through led to Marcus growing into an anxious, paranoid young man. He enrolled at Gotham University, where his father worked as a professor, double majoring in Art and Psychology, with a minor in Chemistry. In university, Marcus often assisted his father in his villainous workings, utilizing his understanding of chemistry to help produce new variants of fear toxin, and often landing himself as the lab rat these variants were tested on. He chose to live on campus during active semesters, which is where he met Oliver Rogers, his roommate.

Marcus quickly grew attached to Oliver, who he felt a sense of warmth and safety with; attachment became infatuation, which became a genuine love and appreciation for Oliver. Oliver reciprocated emotionally, but was far too afraid of the vulnerability of showing it, so he often pushed and pulled in their unestablished relationship; Marcus and Oliver almost acted as if they were dating, although no real relationship or loyalty was declared, and Oliver seemed almost embarrassed of the idea of loving Marcus publicly.

One night, while Oliver was at 'work' (his cover for his absence while patrolling Gotham at night as Eclipse), Marcus photographed Eclipse from his window while Eclipse was patrolling the university. Afterwards, he became fixated on photographing Eclipse, intending to use the photos for an art piece. Eventually, Eclipse noticed and decided to stop by the dorm to chat with Marcus.

Marcus expected to be chastised, commanded to get rid of the photos, but was instead met with flirtation and affection. A sort of conflict arose in Marcus: It would surely disappoint his father if he sparked something with Batman's latest prodigy. But it would be a disappointment to himself to reject these affections, as starved as he was from Oliver's frequent pulling away.

Night after night, Eclipse would visit Marcus at the dorm, flirting with him, bringing him gifts, accepting all sorts of gifts and affections in return. Marcus intended to keep his relationship with Eclipse a secret from his father, but eventually Crane approached him with the information that he already knows. Marcus assured him it would not interfere with his work, as he felt no obligation to turn against him for Eclipse. Crane had little issue with the relationship, as he knew whether it failed or succeeded, it would create much anxiety and fear within Marcus; it fit rather comfortably within his studies on Marcus regarding fear and attachment.

When other villains and criminals caught wind of Marcus' relations to Scarecrow and his relationship with Eclipse, he became a target for kidnappings-- for information, for revenge, and even as bait to try to catch and unmask Eclipse. Of course, Marcus didn't really need the rescuing-- He could endure hours of torture just fine, and was skilled enough in combat to escape once he had his bearings together. But knowing that someone cared enough to rescue him was a high like no other to him. Eclipse would always come to rescue his 'damsel in distress.'

Until he didn't.

Eventually, Eclipse's visits to the dorm dwindled. Coincidentally, Oliver's return to the dorm did as well. Both of Marcus' sources of safety and affection slowly pulled away from his presence entirely. Marcus tried to keep himself together, even rambling to his father trying to rationalize the disappearances. He knew they were both alive and well-- Eclipse had been seen patrolling elsewhere, and Marcus had seen Oliver around on campus. They were avoiding him. He reached his breaking point when Eclipse began failing to rescue him.

Something in him snapped. If Eclipse wouldn't love him, he'd find some other way to get his attention.

Marcus used his extensive knowledge in chemistry to formulate what he called "Liquid Love," alternately known as 'Love Toxin.' The initial design for the toxin existed in two compounds-- a receptor and an effector, intended to be dosed among two separate people. The subject which received the effector would be unaffected, the chemical functioning purely as an activator for the receptor. The subject which received the receptor, once activated by contact with the effector subject, would begin to develop an intense attraction and obsession towards the effector subject.

DC villain OC :3 !! Cordelia Carlton, "The Mycologist"

In her studies and later professional career, Dr. Carlton faced much hardship due to being one of the only women in a male dominated field. She often struggled to be taken seriously with many of her colleagues more focused on her figure than anything of importance. Despite this, she pushed on and pioneered Gotham U's mycological research program. In her work, she came to be hired on the side by Wayne Enterprises, particularly within their Chemical department in order to conduct research on fungal based fibers and building materials. In her career here, she becomes particularly close with Bruce Wayne himself. Between her skills and somewhat heroic attitude towards the sciences, and her happening to be a dark haired honorary orphan, Bruce finds her to be a valuable part of his team, eventually welcoming her to the Batcave and revealing his identity to her; she joins his team working under Lucius Fox, using her skills to produce various fungal-based tools and biochemical subduing agents.

Eventually, in her research, she came across a huge breakthrough. It could change the world-- a bioengineered fungus that could break down oil waste and residue and convert it into a clean, waste free energy source. But when she presented the research to her boss, Dr. Hayden Preston (Head of Gotham U's biology department), requesting a grant to put the fungus through further research for global usage, he turned the idea down with little to no hesitation. She attempted to argue, begging the point that the fungus could change the world. But Dr. Preston would have none of it-- as much as the fungus could change the world, he was quite satisfied with the world as it was; that is, with his pockets being filled by oil executives who paid him large sums to squash such silly ideas as 'clean energy sources.' At some point in his career, he would have cared-- he would have approved the idea. But greed had overtaken any passion for the biological sciences he may have held in the past. And while he wouldn't say it directly, this was extremely apparent to Dr. Carlton. She once more tried to push for the idea, begging that the world was far more important than any oversized paycheck-- he *had* to listen, please.

In response to this, Dr. Preston had a tidbit of advice for Cordelia-- 'Cordy', as he called her diminutively: "Listen, Cordy. You want the department to listen to you? You've got assets, use 'em"

Confused, yet having an idea of what Preston was implying, Dr. Carlton asked for clarification.

"Well, Cordy-- You have an advantage over us men. A nice smile and some skin can do a lot to grab a man's attention, not to mention his will."

Dr. Carlton furrows her brow, her nose scrunches, fists ball, "Excuse me?" "I'm just saying, maybe then I'd be a bit more inclined to listen to your little proposal." Dr. Carlton tosses her palms down against Dr. Preston's desk as she leans across it, her eyes wild with fury, "Okay, *fuck you,* Preston."

She grabs his tie, tugging him closer, "I don't need your goddamn approval or this shit job, I fuckin' quit."

Tossing him away from herself, Dr. Carlton snatches her papers from Preston's desk and briskly heads for the door. Stopping in the doorway, she turns for a moment,

"I'll take it to Wayne then. I'll change the world and you won't get a goddamn dime."

Dr. Carlton tells Preston she'll be back in the morning to clear out her office and lab, she even calls Bruce to give notice of her bringing in the fungal prototype the next day. But when she returns the next day, she notices the previously locked lab door is ajar. And as she enters, her heart sinks as she realizes her research is ruined. It's all destroyed, all gone. The halls of the building ring out with a scream. Cordelia cries for a moment before numbly leaving the building.

Afterwards, Dr. Carlton is nowhere to be found. Preston had attempted to contact her, offer her job back (students had complained, she was a great teacher)-- But to no avail. Any calls went straight to voicemail, her home was seemingly empty, and nobody had seemingly been able to contact her either. Dr. Preston had even insisted on getting in direct contact with Bruce Wayne to demand he tell him where his employee was. Bruce tells him that Dr. Carlton hadn't come into work in days.

A few weeks pass and Dr. Carlton is still missing. On top of this, a string of suicides have begun to pop up around Gotham, all with several common threads: all of the suicides were done by hanging; each body had strange, orange growths protruding from the flesh and faces; and most notably, each victim was some rich, corrupt, important man-- executives, lobbyists, politicians, and even some higher-ups from Gotham U.

The Batman sets to investigate with another apprentice who's come under his wing, Eclipse (Or Oliver Rodgers, who will later be doodled and rambled about eventually). In their investigation, the two identify the growths as some unidentified species of the cordyceps fungus, which Oliver notes shouldn't be able to grow this rampant in a human body. The mysterious string of suicides are accompanied by various notes, directly stating who's next. And that they can't be saved.

This proves true as Batman and Eclipse intercept the next suicide, restraining the man before he can commit to the act. But upon further examination, the pair finds the man is already dead, being piloted by the fungus towards his death. In the man's pocket, they find another note.

"Just one more, the grand finale! Find me in Lab 33 in the Gotham U STEM building. I hope you're excited to see an old friend, it's been too long!"

Batman points out to Eclipse that Lab 33 was Cordelia's lab. In response, Eclipse suggests a theory as to the whole deal behind all of this: Hayden Preston was angry that Cordelia quit, and so he stole her mycological research and altered it to kill.

Bats notices a particularly large hole in this theory, but chooses to save it until they know for sure-- he knows Preston wouldn't kill the men signing his paychecks. But he didn't want to think much of who might.

Arriving at the lab, Eclipse and Batman find the door locks from the outside behind them as they enter. Mounted on the wall of the lab, a large screen clicks on.

In the center of the screen, Preston sits, tied to his desk chair, tape over his mouth. Batman instructs Eclipse to stay put as he uses the vents to find a way to the office. As Eclipse transmits the broadcast to Bats, a familiar voice emits from the screen, "Poor Dr. Preston..." it begins, "Seems to have such a hard time keeping attention. Say hello to Gotham, Dr. Preston!"

Into the view of the camera comes Dr. Carlton, one hand ripping off the tape over Preston's mouth, the other holding a gun. Immediately, the pair notices something off about her: Those same fungal growths protruded from her ears, off her body, her clothes. She looked wired.

Before Preston can plead out for help, Dr. Carlton roughly pops some kind of flask into his mouth, jerking his head back and forcing him to swallow the contents of it. She explains the workings of the fungus, how she engineered it to be able to take over a human nervous system, to be activated and force the zombie-like body to seek out a dangling sensation, that of hanging being most convenient. She explains that she has a rig set up out the window of the office, where Preston's infested corpse will hang on display for all of the University to see.

"Do you hear me now, Dr. Preston?" Dr. Carlton taunts to the man, removing her coat to reveal a rather revealing outfit. With more of her visible, more fungal growths become visible. She places herself on his lap, staring menacingly into the camera as she activates the fungus. Growths begin to sprout from Preston's body, viciously pushing his flesh open and apart. Cordelia stands, replaces her coat, and pulls the noose around her neck off. She hands it to Preston, who is already dead at this point,

"Here, take mine." She coos, her condescension mimicking that which she had heard from her colleagues for years. Preston grabs the noose, and staggers towards the window.

Batman arrives soon after, tackling Preston down and jamming the broadcast before anything more could be shown. Through the door comes Eclipse, having found his own means of escape from the lab, who disarms and restrains Dr. Carlton, who really gave little resistance. Her message was heard, that was enough for now.

On the left is Agatha Heydel. Born in Pennsylvania, in April of 1971. Agatha spent much of her early life being the queen bee, no matter where she went. She was born into a wealthy family originating in southeast Louisiana. On the right is Persephone Banks, born in Metairie, Louisiana, in January of 1970. Persephone grew up with a batshit mother, an absentee father, and a picture perfect older sister who consistently gave her mother a point of comparison to point out all of Persephone's shortcomings (which, objectively, were few-- although to her mother, straight A's and good behavior meant nothing if you were a fat, mentally ill lesbian.)

The two crossed paths in their freshman year of high school. Persephone had made it into the same expensive private Catholic school as Agatha. Her hard work had paid off, and despite the tuition being slightly higher than her single mother's pay grade, she was glad to send Persephone to a school that might 'straighten her out.' Agatha was completely in her element at this school, but easily plucked out the quiet, short, scrappy, baby butch walking the halls, occupying a desk in her classes, sitting alone in the cafeteria, taking shit from other students. Several factors drew Agatha's eye to Persephone.

Firstly, she was cute, really. She had a soft yet sharp facial structure, a choppy undercut (clearly done at home with nothing but a pair of scissors and a mirror,) some scars, and a bit of a resting bitch face.

To add to this, she was butch. Punky. Denim and leather jackets, baggy jeans, old faded flannels, scuffed combat boots, a couple piercings. Her appearance alone was attractive, and Agatha *had* been looking for someone to experiment with.

Third, she was smart. She'd slipped glances of Persephone's papers, her work, her grades. All absolutely exceptional. As much as she didn't look like she belonged, her grades proved enough that she did.

Now, Persephone's appearance alone would be a great way to piss off Agatha's parents. But Agatha wanted more from this girl than just a little fling to make mommy and daddy angry, get that new car she'd been aiming for. No, that brings us to the fourth thing Agatha picked up about Persephone. She was *timid.* Quiet, shy, albeit a bit moody at times when other students tried to pick on her. But she always restrained herself. Her fists would clench, her face would tighten. But she'd never actually do anything. But when she'd walk the halls, she'd walk with a fire in her heels. Agatha could tell, this girl was a ticking time bomb. She had potential. See, Agatha wanted more than to piss of her parents, she wanted more than a simple little thrill. Money was boring when you could just get it easy from your parents. She wanted to earn it. But not with some boring day job. Agatha was *itching* to get into some trouble, to fuck some shit up. She envisioned calmly walking through a jewelry store, browsing each and every piece she'd like to wear, unlocking each case herself to grab a nice haul and shoving it in a bag to sell. She envisioned her partner in crime, holding a gun to the jewelers head. The man flinching as the armed one roughly bumps his head with the gun, screaming in his ear-- Didn't they say not to *fucking move*? Does he want his brains splattered across the wall? Agatha would grin, finish her haul. They'd exit through the back, maybe she'd plant a kiss on her partner's cheek, reminding him-- uh, her-- how much she really appreciates the help.

Having seen her around a few weeks, Agatha knew Persephone was *her.* She was a ticking time bomb, and Agatha wanted to light her fuse.

When Agatha approached Persephone, she was in disbelief. This girl was gorgeous, popular, probably one of the wealthiest girls in school. She couldn't really grasp why Agatha might want to talk to her besides to possibly pick on her. But she didn't. She sat next to her, struck up conversation. And next thing Persephone knew, she was attending sleepovers and parties in mini mansions and fancy estates. She stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the girls Agatha took company in, but if one of them so much as looked at Persephone the wrong way, Agatha made it clear that she'd ruin their lives-- at least, in terms of what rich, popular, high school girls would consider ruined.

And as Persephone spent more time with Agatha, she began to grow more,, angry. Agatha had pushed her to it, really-- "You work so hard, and yet all your mom cares about is whether you like girls? What even is the point anymore of trying to impress her, trying to impress anyone anymore?"

When Agatha (or Aggie, as Persephone had come to call her), said this, it was like something snapped in Persephone. For years, Persephone had kept her resentments bottled deep inside. Flickers of impulse had crossed her mind here and there-- "what if I just swung? What if I blew up? What if I stopped caring, showed them how bad I can really be? What if I drank til I almost die, what if I started smoking, what if I tried drugs, what if I sleep around, what if I just swung. And swung. And swung. And couldn't stop."

What if she self-destructed.

All Agatha could think, watching Persephone's descent from a straight-A student to a violent, angry, delinquent: Tick tick tick, boom.

From there, they became a criminal duo. Starting with minor robberies, and eventually working up to a full blown criminal empire. Agatha always had the money to cover her ass. Persephone not so much. But Agatha always got her back, and every time she'd reel her back in. Persephone was Agatha's precious guard dog, and Agatha was the mastermind puppeteering the poor lovestricken addict. Agatha often grew bored of Persephone's clinginess, her loviness-- especially on the account that Agatha *swears* she's heterosexual-- except for, of course for Persephone: her only exception. She knows she truly does feel for Persephone, but by no means is she ready to face what that means. So she continually uses and abuses Persephone, leaving her for dead or worse over and over, and then dragging her back in with lovebombing and all her favorite vices. Throughout their criminal careers, they experience a very on and off relationship, both romantically and professionally. Oddly enough, without Agatha's planning, Persephone's criminal plans tend to flourish more.