Jump 139: Batman Beyond

Jump 139: Batman Beyond

Location: Gotham City, 2051
Age: 83
Identity: Legend
Drawbacks: [+200] Epilogue, Target

[Free]      Impostor
[100/1200]  The Superstitious and Cowardly
[500/1200]  Superior
[Free]      Costume
[600/1200]  Project Beyond
[Free]      Energy Pistol
[Free]      Personal Weapon
[1200/1200] Company

The future isn't what it used to be. An old former president, living in Gotham, still managing his company as though he were the Old Man running OCP. With, perhaps, less pictures of himself and Reagan. But the Ghost still haunted the dark streets of a dystopian future Gotham, no different from how he was in the years before, even if his gallery of rogues was smaller and dealing more with street level crime versus supervillains for the most part... even if occasional dabbling in corporate crimes is an inevitability.

Into this mix was thrown one Terry McGinnis, who through circumstance and his own stubbornness inherited the mantle of Batman. It's a very different world than it might have been back in 2001, and similarly circumstance forced him into conflict with a great many opponents that would have run amok otherwise.

The political landscape of the world, likewise, was much different from how it used to be. While the world's technology had advanced by leaps and bounds, it had been increasingly cut off from the rest of the universe with exceptions made only in a handful of situations - and of course old man Kent was still heading up the Justice League, even if the Watchtower wasn't in orbit anymore. Oh, Earth had certainly gone through a period in the early 21st century of pollution, but now was virtually a paradise outside of urban areas, which had become more centralized and much more built up.

And so status quo went on as it always does, until the time came for the Earth to pay the piper.

You see, agreements had been signed in 2010 with virtually every head of state around the world. The conditions of the planet had been laid out in black and white, and without interference they could expect the world to get much, MUCH worse. Even if capes and cowls didn't interfere with global politics to prevent what was likely going to be a series of wars, conditions would inevitably meet a runaway climate condition unless either notable changes in society happen, or outside interference permitted limited terraforming. Which, of course, the man behind the Ghost - a president himself at the time - was able to provide. But in fifty years, the Earth would stop being its own planet and would join a confederation of other Earths.

And so a conspiracy between heads of state was launched, under the banner of EXALT. And over the next fifty years, there were several times when the conspiracy was nearly unraveled, but never quite. The Exalted, as they became known as an in-joke, understood what they were getting. Potential immortality. A guaranteed seat at the table. Confirmation of an afterlife that wouldn't punish them arbitrarily for wearing polyester blend clothing.

The Justice League, Batman included, actually made a good effort to stop the integration from happening when 2060 came around. But it's something of a moot point when a dyson shell that had been previously intangible materializes around the sun, and the Earth's crust is removed like a candy wrapper and placed seamlessly on the inner surface of the shell.

The really remarkable thing about this is how little it disrupted everyday life. Earth was already not bothering with much in space - really, most other civilizations didn't want anything to do with Earth with a handful of celebrities (such as a certain Tamaranian princess or Green Lanterns) as exceptions, considering Earth was such a mixed bag and overall considered somewhat backward.

So when Earth and the dyson shell it was attached to blipped away in 2061... most of the rest of the universe barely noticed.