Jump 381: Batman - The Animated Series

Jump #381: Batman - The Animated Series
>Ten of Cups (Satiety): Taking delight in one's good fortune.
>Location: Gotham City, 1986
>Identity: Vigilante
Not Bat Family. Especially not in '86.
>Drawbacks: (+700) Extended Stay, No Killing Rule, Past Tragedy, Make 'Em Laugh, The Demon's Head
So not only do I have to deal with memories of my parents' murder-suicide, I have to deal with the comedian while I razz all ghouls.
>Timm Design (Free)
I've always loved this iconic style. The gothic retro-future aspects were cool too.
>Secret Identity (Free, Vigilante)
Two can keep a secret if neither one is retarded.
>Friend of the Police (Free, Vigilante)
In a city like Gotham, money talks, but not everyone is listening.
>Disappearing Act (1600, Vigilante)
It helps to be able to duck out at an appropriate moment.
>All-Star Training (1300, Vigilante)
Now, being able to pick up on skills this much faster... okay, I've already got this ability, but I this makes it much easier to share my capability to learn with others. Even if it's only in part, it's worthwhile.
>Money (1250)
Turns out my parents had life insurance.
>Jumper's Millions (1150)
And rather massive investments.
>Trust Fund (1000)
And I do mean MASSIVE.
>Batman's Superpower (700)
By 'massive' I mean I can toss a hundred million dollars at things on a monthly basis and not give a damn. That's a palette stacked with hundreds, three and a half feet tall.
>Jumper Cave (650, Vigilante)
Underground headquarters is important, but underground caves connecting all of my properties? Priceless.
>Jumper Industries (400, Vigilante)
You mean CruxCorp, of course.
>Companion Import (0)
As crazy as things are going to get in the future in Gotham, you'd better believe that I'm going to make sure my companions have an edge. (Aside from being Kryptonians. We're staying quiet about that.)

The short version of my biography: walked in on my parents' murder-suicide and fled before my stepfather could add me to the casualty count. Lived on the streets for a couple of years and ended up picked up by the police - everyone was pretty surprised I was alive and I ended up roped into military academy and, subsequently, the Navy. I got to see the world, meet interesting people, even got an all-expenses paid trip to Grenada before I was able to get out, but after that... turns out that between the two of my parents owned a large chunk of CruxCorp (or the local variant) and certain individuals were trying to do their best to convince me they were looking out for me while trying to screw me.

I screwed them, completely legally of course, and in a rather hilarious turn of events become not just the majority stock holder, but ended up with everything. But of course, this is Gotham, and not everything can be dealt with by police. The city needs something more. A guardian. No... a Sentinel. After all, criminals may be superstitious, but they're often stupid. Being subtle doesn't always work, Batman.

And I happen to have a whole company that can put together various technologies and materials to help me with what I do. In fact, it turns out that the company is a little bit bigger than people thought at first, considering the other aspects of CruxCorp are being rolled into it and it's now ten times the size it was. Bruce Wayne, meanwhile, is going 'what do you mean Wayne Enterprises actually has a serious competitor in Gotham and they're not being a complete shit?'

So, Batman isn't the only one in this city playing vigilante. This of course means that he's suspicious of me the entire time, and it probably doesn't help anything that I make a habit of not being around when he is - we had an unspoken agreement that I was day shift and he was night shift. Of course, this only worked temporarily - in time, a meeting between us was unavoidable.

The dark knight, versus a sentinel armored similar to one. It drew unavoidable comparison. We had our requisite fight scene while dealing with the Joker early on, naturally. My armor (a dialed-down replica of my praetorian armor, at the time) had already been damaged, and thanks to the Joker was rendered mostly inert, but I kept going despite that with a domino mask and the bodysuit I wore under the armor.

We dealt a few good blows to each other before we called a truce in order to deal with the clown - apparently the Joker took it personally that Batman had been willing to work with me, and decided to knock me out of the picture. He never did manage, but when my companions came on the scene later... he did certainly do his best to put a permanent smile on their face.

As far as Ra's al Ghul, well, turns out that he wanted to make use of something my company produced to further his early plots. He didn't respect me quite as much as his other opponent - while he called Batman a detective, he considered me more a mercenary, a term he used as an insult at every opportunity. Of course I did my best to hinder him... and from that point forward, he saw to it that the League of Shadows was constantly harrying me and mine. I would have spent most of my time outside of Gotham dealing with him, were it not for the insanity that Gotham constantly produced.

And the Joker plots. Oh, those god damn Joker plots. I thought dealing with Ra's would have been more troubling, but no, it was the goddamn Joker. I tried to stay under the radar for most things as far as staying within context, but I broke out jumper-level science in order to manufacture a universal antidote to Joker toxin that I ensured that Gotham's ambulances and hospitals had plenty of. Sure, it was a gesture on the back end, but it made sure that those insane smiles would eventually fade and his body count was dropped to a tenth of what it might have been.

>"Sentinel."
"Evening, Batman. Clocking in?"
>"So to speak. Heard you had a day."
"Oh, quite. The Joker decided to hijack a bus to escape a bank robbery. One of his cronies accidentally broke a canister of gas inside. A school bus. At ten minutes after three."
>"And?"
"No fatalities - never have I been happier that ambulances have antitoxin standard these days - and he was apprehended. Even Curly, who was the idiot who dropped the canister."
>"Hn."
"Going to be out of town for a bit, incidentally - heard something about Ra's al Ghul poking around in Cairo. Tell me something though. You've dealt with the clown more than I have. I'm not going to lie... I was sorely tempted today, after seeing seventy kids with rictus smiles, choking for air. How is it that you hold back?"
>"I remind myself that it's not my call to make."
"But you've wanted to see him dead."
>"..."
"As much as I do today."
>"You didn't kill him. The police who took him away didn't either."
"No. No, they didn't. Suppose we have to respect the rule against it, people like us. Not just law."
>"You can't take back a bullet."
"Quite. I suppose that's why I trust you, though."
>"Why's that?"
"Good people don't need rules."
>"We're not good people."
"No. But we do make the world safer for them."
>"Hn. You're more of a realist than I thought. Have fun in Cairo, Sentinel."
"See you around, Batman. Give the kids my best."