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Beyonder
(Batman Beyond + Spider-Man 2099)
Name: Miguel McGinnis
Biography: The year is 2099. The Heroic Age has long ended. A brutal war between humans and metamutants (metahumans + mutants) has left society in ruins and governments across the world had failed to save it. This allowed megacorporations to take the place of governing bodies, with what was left of the United States of America falling under the control of one of the least scrupulous companies on Earth, Alchemax.
Alchemax' headquarters was stationed in Nuevo Gotham (Nuevo York + Neo-Gotham). There, they provided the city with every product they could think of. It was here that company CEO, Derek Stone (Derek Powers + Tyler Stone) came up with an idea for a new product, he was going to build his own Heroic Age by recreating its most iconic superheroes.
He tasked the geneticist George McGinnis (George O'Hara + Warren McGinnis) with recreating the Blue Spider (Spider-Man + Ted Kord). George tried to do this by imprinting the genetic code of a spider into a human test subject. After the subject horrifically mutated and died from the test, George couldn't do it anymore and handed in his resignation. George McGinnis was the best scientist Alchemax had; Derek needed him to bring back the Blue Spider. So Derek decided he'd just have to twist George's arm.
Enter Miguel McGinnis. Despite living in a post-apocalyptic conglomerate hellscape, Miguel was about what you'd expect from your average high schooler. He went to parties, studied for exams, had a girlfriend, etc. The only difference was that Miguel was a scientific prodigy on par with his father. Other than that, he was just a regular kid that never did anything to anybody. Which makes what's about to happen to him all the more tragic.
One night, Miguel was walking with his girlfriend, Dana Kwan (Dana Tan + Xina Kwan). While they were talking, a man in a mask approached Miguel from behind and stuck a needle into his neck. Miguel tried to fight off his attacker but he was too big and strong for him and the masked assailant escaped.
After calling the police about the attack, Miguel decided to go back home. As he walked, he noticed something strange was happening to him. His muscles hurt all over, he couldn't stop sweating, he kept seeing and hearing things that weren't there, and he felt more tired than he ever had in his life. When he finally returned home, his father had to keep him from collapsing on the floor.
After getting Miguel to his bed, George received a phone call from his former boss. Derek explained that he had Miguel injected with a drug named Rapture. Rapture bonds with the victim's DNA, making addiction instant and withdrawals agonizing and permanent. And since Alchemax was the only supplier of Rapture, George needed to come back to Alchemax and continue working on recreating the Blue Spider in order to keep his son from suffering.
George eventually managed to create a serum that would bond spider DNA to a human host without mutating or killing them. Rather than telling Derek, George killed the test subject they sent and took the serum back home, hoping that it'd be able to cure Miguel. It did, but at a cost.
The Rapture in Miguel's DNA interfered with the serum causing Miguel to grow fangs and claws and turning the irises in his eyes red. Miguel was furious at his dad for turning him into a freak and ran away from home. He got on his motorcycle and rode as far away as he could. Eventually, he stumbled across the old abandoned remains of Stark Manor.
He explored the old house before stumbling onto an incredible discovery: the Batcave, secret lair of Gotham City's legendary protector, Iron Bat (Batman + Iron Man). After pressing some buttons on the Batcomputer, Miguel not only accidentally turned the Batcave back on, he awakened a holographic AI copy of Bruce Stark, Iron Bat himself. AI Bruce kicked Miguel out and the young man decided he should return home.
When he did, he saw police outside his house and his mother and little brother crying their eyes out. When he asked what was going on, he was told that his father had been murdered.
He returned to Stark Manor and explained to the AI of Bruce that Derek Stone had killed his father. While Bruce sympathized with Miguel, he was in no position to fight crime. So Miguel decided to take one of Iron Bat's suits and use it and his new powers to bring Derek Stone to justice.
With the help of the Bruce AI, Miguel exposed Derek's attempts to build his own superheroes, shutting the project down permanently. Seeing Miguel in action convinced Bruce that the world could use more heroes. So he offered to train Miguel and let him keep the suit as the new Iron Bat. He accepted the suit and training but told Bruce that Iron Bat wouldn't be enough.
It wasn't just the suit that helped Miguel avenge his father, it was also the serum George made and gave him that was meant to create the next Blue Spider. And with Stone still in charge of Alchemax, he'd need to be something beyond what either Blue Spider or Iron Bat were capable of. This made Bruce think about one of the most powerful beings he ever met, and suggested that Miguel instead take up the name Beyonder.
From that day forward, Beyonder went against dozens of villains new and old, finally giving some semblance of hope to the people of Nuevo Gotham after so long. Thanks to his father, Miguel would go on to become the spark that reignites the Heroic Age for 2099 and beyond.
Powers & Abilities: After being injected with the serum, Miguel gained powers similar to the original Blue Spider. He has the proportional strength, agility, durability, and speed of a spider. However, that's where the similarities end. He doesn't have a spider-sense and while he can shoot webs and climb up walls, it's through two very different methods. Unlike Ted Parker, Miguel's webs are natural and can be fired from the back of his wrists. He also doesn't stick to walls and other surfaces but rather he uses the retractable talons in his toes and fingers to pierce through them.
Then there are powers that Blue Spider never had, like how Miguel's claws are also sharp enough to shred through solid metal. How he also has retractable fangs that can inject a paralyzing neurotoxin to his enemies. And how his vision became so sensitive he can see farther, faster, and clearer than normal people. He even has natural night vision. His eyes may not be as good as a spider-sense but it definitely comes in handy.
While that's what Miguel can do, let's look at what the suit can do. The suit makes him even stronger, grants him flight, contours over his talons so he can use them without tearing it, and if Beyonder finds himself in a pinch, he can use it to shock anyone touching the suit. It also has many built-in gadgets such as flashbang grenades, weighted bolas, and of course, the iconic batarangs, which are sharper than ever before and can be set to explode.
And while Miguel may be a scientific prodigy, he's certainly no detective or strategist, especially compared to Bruce Stark. Luckily, the Bruce Stark AI is there to help him. He's just as sharp as the original Bruce and can communicate with Miguel through the suit or on a wrist-mounted device. He's capable of monitoring everything around Miguel, keep track of his vital signs, can hack into nearly any electronic device, and has instantaneous access to all information in the Batcomputer. On top of that, he also serves as Miguel's martial arts teacher, training him to be just as skilled in hand-to-hand as he was.
Appearance: Miguel has light brown skin, black hair, and used to have brown eyes before the serum turned them red. In his civilian identity, he covers them up with sunglasses.
As Beyonder, he wears black lightweight armor that contours around his entire body. Designed for maximum intimidation, the suit displays no mouth and completely red eyes. The chest shows a red skull with no lower jaw, instead displaying two long fangs. On both of the suit's forearms are two long red spikes. When being used for flight, the suit produces two clear batwings with a red pattern similar to spider webbing.
