Tomorrow Titans – The Next Generation
Saga Arc #1: Charnel House
Prologue: "Prelude to the Beginning"
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters present within these pages…I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners – DC comics, Marvel Comics, the BBC, Hasbro, and others, as well as some characters created by fellow writers, such as Black Panther's Knight (the name he went by at the time of this writing, anyways), and others I know. Every one of those characters, I ask the permission of their creators before using them here, in case you're wondering. Now, not all of those characters and concepts appear in their original form, and some will. I'm not making any profit off of this, and I don't intend to at any point in the future, either – this is just for the enjoyment of others.
Author's Note: This fanfic is placed in the shared universe I spun off from JBWriter's stuff, but has its own unique qualities and concepts. However, some people will inevitably notice (at some point in the future when all of my fanfics are written and published) that some of the concepts and characters present in stories set in the timeline aren't present here. The answer there will be in the last of my present-day set fanfics, or at an earlier-date one, to explain the momentarily large amount of crossovers I've written, and intend to write.
2010: The end of an era. The end of the Titans.
However, it was not a physical, actual loss…more of a decision to end the team as it was, to create a new team, a larger team – not that the old team could get much bigger, considering the number of honorary Titans – but this meeting was to be the last in this building…the new team had a bigger headquarters, in a more subdued-looking estate, rather than the styled T-shaped tower they had grown so fond of. A necessary evil, one could say.
Nightwing, the team leader, regarded his long-time friends, and sighed softly, running a hand through his long, jet-black hair, regarding everyone. It wasn't like he wouldn't see them anymore, but it still felt like it was a somber occasion. And it had been a heck of a ride while it lasted. The problem was this new organization would have less room for what had made the Titans the Titans. It would have to be more mature, more serious, and more supervised. No more late nights playing video games, arm wrestling, or ordering massive quantities of pizza. No, now they had to be professional in order to compete with the other members of the adult superhero community – they didn't want to be regarded as children forever. Not that Nightwing had truly grasped what it had been like to be a child, not for a long time, after the death of his parents that fateful night, and his induction into crime fighting as the first Robin, Boy Wonder.
Sitting across from him was Raven, a girl who had always struck him as odd. Granted, she was a bit odd, but she was nice, when she chose to be. When they first assembled, she was so cold and distant. Things with Terra hadn't gone over well with her, but the new friend they had made after that made things better, it seemed. And now, some time after her father's dead at her hands, she had been more free with her emotions, and that friend became a boyfriend, and later fiancé.
That friend, that fiancé, was Spider-Man, though right now he had his mask off, acting normally for him, his hair still semi-long and a little shaggy now, his brown eyes blinked rapidly as he and Changeling fought over the last slice of Pizza, the green skinned young man, and the wall-crawler each giving each other fierce, though amusing, glares. Finally Spider-Man got the piece, and did a victory sign, grinning as he wolfed it down, only to receive a sharp nudge in the side from his soon-to-be-wife, grunting a bit. "What?" Nothing. "What?" Again, nothing. "What?"
"Peter…stop acting like such a child."
"I know you are but what am I?"
"Damnit, Peter…" Raven sighed, rubbing her pale forehead, lightly caressing her chakra gem and trying to calm herself – even if she loved the man, he was completely infuriating and charming at the same time, so even now when she was mad at him, she wouldn't turn him away when they went back to his place. The thought made her blush, and a faint snicker could be heard, from Changeling, at which point she gave him her best, four-eyed glare, quickly silencing. "Garfield…" she used his real name, warningly, and narrowed her eyes at him. The black and purple clad young man squeaked, and began to sweat.
"S-sorry, Rave…" he apologized, causing Starfire to giggle and Cyborg to chuckle. Changeling's little snicker fit had been due to the obvious effect thinking about her beau had on Raven's body temperature, something Cyborg didn't need his little green buddy to figure out. Nightwing had his mouth covered, which made him look very serious, but secretly he was smiling himself, and just trying to hide that from his team, to keep up the appearance of a serious individual…at least until it was Starfire's turn to nudge him in the side, surprising him.
"I know you are laughing…" She whispered to him, smiling a bit. She had lost some of her old habits, namely her speech patterns, but still managed to not use contractions at times. "You don't need to hide it…"
"I know, Kori, I know." He smiled back at her, after moving his hands from his face and sighing softly. The two had been seeing each other for a while now, but hadn't taken their relationship to the same level as Spider-Man and Raven, but then, Nightwing had problems with commitments sometimes, or at least the emotional ones. Now it was time to snicker at their leader, even Raven joining in as Changeling and Spider-Man made kissy faces at him, and even Cyborg had a laugh at it. "Alright you three, knock it off." Nightwing finally said, giving them an authoritative look as the laughing died down, and everything went serious. "The reason I'm calling this meeting is, basically, we're dissolving the Titans, as of now. I'm sure I don't need to go over this again, at least not in too much – the government is funding us now, and we're going to have to be more mature about this…which I know is a strain for some of our members whose names I don't need to mention…" This elicited a bit of groaning from the more immature members, who looked discontented from that bit of information. "We're also expanding our membership, and we're not going to be just teens anymore. We're going to be the New Titans."
"Nice name." Raven commented dryly, smiling a bit to herself as she covered the lower half of her face with one of her books, which she had brought just for that purpose, pretending to read it – her fiancé was becoming quite the influence on the pale girl indeed. Nightwing chose to ignore the hint of humor in her voice, and rose up, planting his hands firmly on the table before him.
"As a result, like I told everyone else earlier, we have to move out of the tower, but we're going to keep it as a fallback base, just in case, so it'll have a skeleton crew taking care of it, and this is where most of the honorary members will stay until their rooms are furnished in the new HQ."
"I like what I hear, leader man." Spider-Man leaned back in his chair, planting his booted feet on the surface of the table, grinning a bit in his usual, disarmingly pleasant fashion, two long bangs hanging down alongside his face. "So it's still business as usual?"
"Business as usual." The team leader nodded, smiling a bit. "I just…wanted us to have one last night here, before we have to go ourselves…"
"That's cool, you don't need to explain it to us, 'wing." Changeling nodded a bit himself. "This place was our home for years. In a way, it will always be our home. So…here's to us, huh?"
"To us."
Everyone shared in the thought, and Nightwing walked over to the fridge, peering in. Thankfully, none of Kori's food was in there, nor were there any living mold monsters. He took out a bottle of Pepsi, and headed back to the table, pouring some into each person's glass, as they settled down for a long night in the Tower, full of reminiscing.
2020. The beginning of a new era…but not the one you're thinking of.
In a secret installation that belonged to A.I.M, or Advanced Idea Mechanics, a top-secret project was underway, and today was the final day of work, when it would be activated, and the process of assimilating the instincts and minds of 106 specific individuals would begin. Doctor Evelyn Necker, the head of the Minion project, was slightly nervous, tugging on her long red longs and fussing a bit with her green body suit, before sitting down as the Minion capsule was loaded into the room which would become its defacto home.
The cybernetic being inside the capsule had a blue upper torso, with one arm having two gold bands on the upper arm, the other a solid sky blue blue, with red cables covering the sides of the abdomen, similar cables connecting from the back of the machine-man to the large-ish, skull-like head, two horns coming off from the side, the lower torso also blue, each part of the body bearing thin segment lines. The mismatched cybernetic eyes were closed, though soon they would open as the robotic Minion would soon awaken.
Minion was created to protect A.I.M from an unknown future threat that their precogs had revealed to them…however the details were so vague, they had no clue what it looked like or what it could do, just that it intended to wipe out A.I.M utterly. And so the organization had sunk millions, if not billions, of dollars into this cybernetic entity, giving it all the latest high-tech materials they could – the solid blue arm could morph from a hand to a cannon to a blade, which was used to extract the information needed from the mind of the subjects Minion was to seek out, both through time AND space.
When the capsule was set down in its new housing, it was activated, and Minion's eyes opened. Its first words weren't very profound, but they were memorable – "Minion unit activated…searching…awaiting orders." The robot was a blank slate at the moment, though that would change in time…
Sometime later, but still 2020.
SKKKZZZT!
"Here he comes now…Minion…"
On the Time Jump platform, Minion came into view, blade arm still extended from his last assimilation.
"…That's far enough! Your deviant behavior concerns me greatly. Report for a thorough systems check!" Necker was confident her creation would listen. To her surprise, he did not.
"No time…" He started. "…I've absorbed subject 104, Lehdrox. Check me over quickly so I can make the next trip." The way the machine spoke to her rattled his creator, but also infuriated her at the same time.
"No go, Minion. We've sunk billions into your creation to protect us from some as of yet unknown future threat. We must be sure you function perfectly."
"Just do it Doctor." Minion's voice was almost threatening, the personalities he'd been assimilating beginning to alter his AI mind, and not for the better in this case. Then one of the 'underlings' spoke up, panicked.
"Doctor Necker! We're registering a massive power surge on the roof level!"
KRA-TISHHHH!
Smashing through the rooftop skylight was the mercenary bounty-hunter and freelance peacekeeping agent Death's Head, another advanced Cyborg, though not exactly as new as Minion, in regards of experience. He too had horns on his head, these protruding upwards and colored red, with a chromed silver face with 'eyebrows' and mouth horns, with a yellow and silver upper torso, silvered arms, blue and red forearms, silvered legs with blue boots, and wearing a brown trenchcoat and carrying a large handgun and rifle.
"Found you, yes?" He commented as he fell to the ground, landing in a crouch. "Now you're going to pay in full!" He quipped, aiming the pistol at Minion, and firing it, shooting the other mechanoid in the chin and knocking his head back. Necker was at the point where she could panic, but that wouldn't get anything done; instead, she hit her communicator, and began speaking, rapidfire barking of orders.
"Necker to all security fireteams! Emergency in the Weapons Construct Chamber! Move it!" she indeed barked, a fierce look on her face as the room became a warzone in a matter of seconds.
Death's Head was standing over the fallen Minion, left hand in his trenchcoat pocket, aiming his gun at the other machine. "You cheated me of Tyler. Can't get no three million now, but I can get satisfaction, yes?"
Minion growled softly, starting to get up, lifting himself up with his arms. "Ahhhh…don't struggle. It'll be easier for you…"
"Kidding, yes?" Death's Head shot back, his electronic vocals sounding amused at Minion's remark, still holding the gun on him.
Minion stood, some of the wires connected to his head severed and sparking, his skull-face looking fierce and determined, a piece of the 'jaw' broke off from his fight with Lehdrox earlier, face spattered with blood and other fluids. "Do I look like I'm kidding?" With that, the blue robot rushed forward, extending his right fist as his left arm transformed into its cannon mode, the fist tearing into Death's Head's abdomen, where the stomach would be on a human.
SKRR-ANCH!
"AAARGH!" Death's Head roared as he and Minion flew backwards, over the heads of the armed security force that had just arrived, finally coming to a stop when they smashed into a group of fleeing scientists and some machinery.
KRA-CHUNK!
The two stood, optical sensor to optical sensor.
"I admire your guts, Death's Head."
"You haven't seen them yet…" the bounty hunter remarked, the fist still lodged in his chest. Minion replied, and if he had a true face, he would be smirking with an almost evil glee now.
"YET!" And with that, he yanked his fist out of Death's Head's chest, tearing a deep gash into his outer casing and armor.
THRATCH!
As the freelance peacekeeper fell to the floor, his own forearm blade extended from his left arm, and he stabbed Minion through the stomach area, which sent a jolt of energy through the cyborg.
"RAAH!"
With that done, Minion glared at Death's Head, and punched down, ripping off the other robot's left arm past the wrist, then struck him in the side of the head with the ridged, 'clawed' barrel of his gun arm.
SKRUNCH!
The impact tore through the right side of the robot's head, tearing away his outer 'face,' right eye, and head horn, sending the components flying through the air. Death's Head fell back, crouched on his knees, arms keeping him from falling down, as Minion approached, his gun arm morphing into a multi-pronged blade. "Good fight, but it ends here."
Death's Head turned to see his attacker, and felt no fear, but a sense of rage, that these would be his final moments, one arm severed and tossed aside, his head damaged at nearly 45 percent of it gone. "Uuunnff…NO!"
"YES!" Minion roared, slashing up with his arm and taking Death's Head damaged head off cleanly with a gush of fluids. Minion caught the damaged side of the head by the wires, arm blade morphing into the assimilation weapon. "Subject 105 Death's Head…" Minion intoned, raising his arm back, then punched it through the back of the head. "…Instincts assimilated."
KKZZZMM!
Then something…problematic happened.
"I don't…something wrong…AAARRRGGGHH!" Minion let out a scream as a powerful current coursed through him, striking him directly in the processor and electronic brain of the advanced fighting machine, flowing from Death's Head's now-empty head and into Minion, beginning to override his systems. One of the scientists began to speak, in worried tones.
"His systems are overloading! There's something wrong with the last implant! I'm losing Central Command! Doctor Necker?!" the redhead then began to panic, and called out to her creation, worriedly.
"Minion? Minion…Answer me!"
Minion's blade began to split up, first into five long claws, then into five fingers, while smoke emerged from his right eye. "I can't…I…help me..." He reached out with his left hand, still spewing that acrid smoke, before something else happened, and another jolt went through him. "KZZZTT…subject 106. Targeting locked on." The blue and red cyborg then began to move, making his way to the Time Jump platform, staggering with each step.
"Minion? Answer me! What's going on?" Necker wasn't about to give into hysteria, but damned if it wasn't the right time to, considering what had just happened, that all her work could be gone, and her 'masters' in charge of A.I.M. would be very, very angry with her, to say the very least.
KZZZTT!
"-I'll be back, yes?" Minion quipped in a familiar tone, before beginning to vanish before Necker's eyes.
"Teleport! He's going! Stop him!"
NOW she was about to give in to her hysteria…
"Get a fix on him! Where's he going?"
"Time dilation reads as destination earth circa 2005. He's gone after the last target, Doctor." One of the lab techs said. Necker sighed, and removed her monocular head piece.
"The council'll string me up if we lost him. Reset the Time Jump. I'm going after him." As she spoke, Necker removed her bodysuit, and began putting on another outfit, this one made for time travel, not one bit concerned about her appearance – everyone here was a professional, so even though she was very attractive, no one ogled her. "Who IS the last target?" She asked as she finished getting dressed, a spikey haired tech replying to her question while checking some equipment.
"According to this, subject 106 is a human named…Reed Richards."
Necker chased Minion back to the not-so-distant past, and aided Reed Richards in escaping from her crazed killing machine, and not even the appearance of the team's ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing could halt Minion, who merely swatted Ben aside with superior firepower and chased Necker and Reed all the way to Four Freedoms Plaza.
They beat him there, though, and there was enough time for Reed to prepare a ray. Necker had briefed her on what Minion was and why he was there, and realized that it wasn't just Death's Head instincts Minion had, but the bounty hunter's ENTIRE mind and personality, which had overwhelmed the robot, and driven it a little mad. By the time Minion arrived, the ray – whose purpose was to allow Death's Head's mind to take control, and erase the conflict that was tearing Minion's mind apart. Richards managed to get it working, and hit Minion full on.
Richards stood above, but a ways way from the fallen, shorted out Minion, turning to Necker.
"With any luck, when his neurons unscramble, Death's Head's consciousness will be the first to regroup…"
"First? You mean it may not be permanent?" Necker was puzzled, as she believed the ray would permanently solve the problem the malfunction construct posed.
"Hard to say. Death's Head? Can you hear me?" Richards called out, as Minion began to stand, his mind coming into crystal clarity.
"Remember….yesssss…" Then an odd, almost distorted voice came from Minion's mouth. "Richard's department store…..open Ten 'till late – for that……perfect Christmas gift! " Necker was highly doubtful as she regarded the scientist, a confounded expression on her face.
"That doesn't sound like Death's Head to me…" Reed just shook his head and responded to her, in an almost scholarly tone.
"Don't worry – his mind's still shaken up…I think the process is working!"
"Working?" Then came that moment of near-hysteria for Necker again, a worried and disbelieving expression on her face. "I've got to make that cyborg capable of protecting the whole A.I.M organization!" Then, in a lower tone, almost a whisper… "You've ruined my project…" Now it was Richards' turn to look disbelieving, and understandably upset.
"You say I've ruined your project?! When you programmed a cyborg to kill me!" Then Minion...if the cyborg could still be called that, as it was Death's Head mind that was controlling the advanced battle body now…strolled past the arguing Necker and Richards, and headed straight for a large dataport on Richard's computer.
"-Nobody needs to die, yes? Computer Mainframe contains all data known to Reed Richards…I shall assimilate that…" The cyborg then plugged its arm in, and began downloading into his computerized synthethic brain. Necker could only watch in awe.
"It HAS worked…you've brought Death's Head consciousness to the surface…he hasn't overridden Minion's compulsion to assimilate your knowledge…but he's doing it WITHOUT killing you!"
Minion then turned to the two scientists, and nodded to Richards' sagely. "Fair exchange, yes? You save my consciousness, I save yours! Farewell, Richards!" As he spoke, a Time Jump activated again, and Minion/Death's Head begin to vanish from sight.
KZZZAKT!
Necker nearly panicked again, and moved away from Richards'. "No! He's gone…time-jumped before I could stop him! I must go after him."
"Be careful, Necker…His mind's still unstable!" Reed couldn't help but warn the redhead, as it was part of his heroic nature.
"I must catch him, or everything is lost!" She put her mask back on, and triggered the jump herself, looking back to Reed, smiling under the gas mask-like device. "At least you're safe! Remember me fondly, Reed…It's been wild."
And with that, Necker was gone, leaving Reed to explain things to his friends and family as they began to rush into the room, the intrusion into the building setting off all manner of alarms.
And that had been the moment when Minion became the being known as Death's Head II, more commonly just Death's Head or DH. He had a number of adventures after that, taking up the occasional heroic cause and the such, until one fateful day, when he had encountered…or more accurately, re-encountered…an old friend, the Gallifreyan Time Lord known only as the enigmatic Doctor. The two ended up becoming partners of sorts for a short time, then met again when the Doctor's old enemy, the Master, appeared and began to reorganize the Society, a number of Justice League and Avengers villains, expanding his recruitment drive. When the Master was finally locked away for good, the Doctor convinced Death's Head to join what was being called the Alliance, a unification of all super hero groups into one organization with sub-groupings and the like.
2030.
And he'd been there ever since.
Now Death's Head was faced by Superman and Captain America, two of the most prolific heroes in the organization, though the public still called the groups the Justice League, and the Avengers, and so on. Or at least, the successors to the names Superman and Captain America, who were really Superman's clone, the former Superboy, Conner Kent/Kon-El, and Bucky Barnes, who for a time was the mentally altered assassin Winter Soldier…as such, this new Captain America, who wore an altered costume that was mostly black with some blue, white and red, was more forgiving of Death's Head's violent methods of 'conflict resolution'. Superman, however, was more harsh to the former mercenary-turned-adventurer. And that was showing now.
Death's Head was on probation, for causing a series of devastating explosions in Metropolis in a recent battle, and racked up quite the bit of property damage, and earned him a bad reputation amongst the civilians in the city, who were pretty forgiving normally. Perhaps it was the cyborg's harsh appearance, as he wasn't exactly kid-friendly, nor did he act like it. Instead he preferred to kick ass first and take names second, with little concern to his public image. But now, things had gotten out of hand, and his future in the group was in question. And so, here he was, about to be punished. Silent he was hoping he'd be kicked out of the team so he could go out on his own again…Even his sidekick-of-sorts, Tuck, was getting tired of his heroic streak, and it was because of his willing to take up an equal rights cause on a technophobic planet that won her over to him.
However, the conversation seemed to take a turn for the worse for the former mercenary, when the sentence "We'd like you to help out the kids…" came from the Star-Spangled Avenger.
"What the hell?" Death's Head blurted at that. "You're kidding, yes? You don't expect me to baby-sit, do you? And…I should've asked this first…what kids?"
Superman sighed, and crossed his arms over his red and black S shield. "The new generation of heroes, the new Teen Titans. They're forming in about three days, with the blessing of their parents. However, we want you there with them, even if all you do is support staffing…"
"Oh hell no! I most certainly will NOT baby-sit a bunch of teenager hero wannabes! I can barely stand you lot!"
"You didn't let me finish…" Superman said, rather darkly. Darkly enough that it convinced Death's Head to quiet down. "If you choose not to help them, we'll have you deactivated and put in cold storage for the foreseeable future. Indefinately." Captain America nodded, revealing a control device in one palm of his hand, causing the peacekeeper to sigh deeply.
"Very well…twisted my arm, yes? I'll help them…no matter who stupid the job is. But I warn you…you'd better keep that controller handy, because the moment you let it go, I will take it, and I will break it, and you won't be able to stop me…because I can take you, Superman. I have in training, and I will in a real fight…" The warning was completely serious, and Superman stood up to Death's Head, no fear in his eyes.
"Duly noted, Death's Head…duly noted.
And now here he was, moving his things into the old Titans Tower, sighing a bit as he finished unloading into Cyborg's old room, the maintenance bed and everything still there. "It'll take some doing, but I can move in here, I suppose. It isn't too bad, and it has nearly everything I need…and I see they've been upgrading over the past ten, twenty years. Good for them. Now I won't have to hurt someone to get me what I need here." As he continued unpacking, a blip sounded in his ear, and he grunted, setting down a heavy metal box. "Oh my…the stars of the show have arrived, yes?"
Death's Head then left his new room, and entered the main room of the Tower, running his fingers along the dust covered walls, and grunted again. "This is ridiculous, yes? Certainly need a better housekeeper here."
He continued walking, and entered the room, surprised to see two teenaged girls there – one wore a black t-shirt with purple pants, and had green skin, and dark green hair with blood bangs, and sharp teeth, and another wearing a dark purple top with stylized blue bird wings on the top, and wearing a pair of dark purple short shorts, purple short gloves and a pair of thigh-high high heeled boots, both eyeing the room suspiciously until Death's Head cleared his throat rather loudly. The two girls spun around, the green one letting out a loud scream at the sight of the imposing cyborg.
"EEEEEEEK!"
"Oh my…that was rather loud, yes?" Death's Head winced, one eye narrowed and miming to rub one non-existent ear, before snickering a bit. "So I take it you must be a screamer? My, you must have one very tolerant lover."
"H-HEY!" the green girl shot out, no longer clinging to the orange-skinned girl, shaking her fist a bit, while the other girl snickered softly, unable to resist the crude joke. "Mar'i, that's not funny!"
"Yes it is, Terri. Especially since you don't have a boyfriend, though you certainly do bother Peter a lot."
"Well, what do you expect? He has no powers, so he's a prime target for super villains."
Death's Head chuckled a bit, and crossed his rather large arms over his chest. "I'm sure that's it."
"Who are you anyways, skull-face?" Terri shot at the cyborg, still nervous, while he moved closer, looking about some more and tsking.
"Terrible housekeeping in this place, yes? Should shoot the maid."
"You didn't answer my question."
"I'm your new teammate. You may call me Death's Head. Only my friends call me DH." He remarked, sitting himself down on the semi-circular couch, surprised that it didn't collapse under his weight, then remembered that the team had their own cyborg back in the day, aptly named Cyborg. He and Death's Head never quite got along. Perhaps it was Death's Head's shoot first policy…no matter. He waved a hand in the air, the two girls puzzled by his actions. "I'm here to make sure you lot don't get yourselves killed, because if any of you die, they shut me down. They really don't like me, you see?"
"I see…" Mar'i sat down next to him, hands on her knees.
"That outfit is rather provocative, don't you think?" She shrugged, smiling a bit.
"My mom dressed the same…she's the one who gave me this outfit."
"Oh my. Certainly didn't expect that response." The former mercenary chuckled softly, closing both eyes and tilting his head back to peer at the roof when he did open his eyes. "Anyway, where are the others? Will they be here today?"
"They should be…though tryouts are today too. They said there'd be someone for everyone to fight…guess that means you…"
"Oh my…well, I suppose I should hold back then…wouldn't want to hurt the children..." Mar'i giggled a bit.
"Don't hold back too much…I've heard about you. You're supposed to be the black sheep of the hero community…you wouldn't want to look like you've gone soft, would you?"
"Oh my, no. That would be disastrous."
There was some shared laughter, before the door opened, and the rest of the prospective team came in…
End Notes: Okay, this is the end of the Prologue for this story, the first in the Tomorrow Titans series, as I'm currently calling the project. As for those of you who are wondering why there are more Death's Head bits than Titans bits, it's because Death's Head (both I and II) were Marvel UK characters, and not as widely known to today's television and comic audiences, aside from a few appearances in Marvel US books. So I figured since he'll be making an extended appearance in these stories, I might as well give you all the relevant background information on the characters, so that you're not all left in the dark. If there are any questions at all, review or email me, and I'll explain whatever you need to know. Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed it.
And also, I wanted to mention that I adapted the first two issues of the Death's Head II first volume (the mini-series), or at least parts of them to explain the relevant parts of his origin. I thought I should mention that much.