Marcus Crane, "Lovesick"
Will repost later with rambles :3 !!!
Growing up, Marcus was always outcasted no matter where he went. He was always long and gangly, making him a target socially-- but most distressingly, a target to his mother. He was raised by a single mom, a tired, stressed woman who held a deep resentment for him. Not for anything he'd do-- Marcus was a great kid: straight A's, kept out of trouble, helped plenty around the house, and always took care of Mother when she had a bit too much to drink between shifts. But he looked so much like his father-- she simply hated him for it. Those sunken, yet somewhat buggish eyes; his slender, gangly form; those prominent cheekbones; that pale skin, dark curly hair. And what she hated most-- those hands. Those long, bony hands-- they looked so similar to those that once held her. How devastated she was when she found that the man she loved so dearly was incapable of loving her the way she needed-- moreso when he disappeared after she found out the awful things he had been doing behind her back, leaving her to bear their child alone. Marcus had heard all about it-- drunken ramblings from his mother in the small windows of time he got to see her. About his father, and how he was such an evil and cruel man. The way he'd used her as some sort of psychological plaything-- almost as if studying her. The way he'd create distrust, paranoia, anger, and most of all *fear* in their relationship. Then turn around and mend it all, metaphorically meticulously stitching things back up just to tear it back open again and again. Marcus spent the first 10 years of his life hearing of the evils his father committed-- evils which had only escalated since his abandonment.
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.
Soon, various murder-suicides began popping up around Gotham-- suicide notes describing growing obsession, resulting in the murder of their love, and loss of will to live in their absence. With each scene, heart-shaped paper cutouts reminiscent of Valentine's cards would be strewn about, each one with unhinged and unsettling love letters to Eclipse inside, signed "Lovesick."
