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Iron Bat

(Batman + Iron Man)

Name: Bruce Stark

Biography: In a world chock-full of monsters, aliens, gods, and other superpowered beings, it takes a very special person to be able to stand among them. To use nothing but their skill, intelligence, and sheer determination to take their place among legends. And there are few better examples of this than the sworn protector of Gotham City, Iron Bat.

Son of billionaire couple Thomas and Martha Stark (Thomas and Martha Wayne + Howard and Maria Stark) and heir to the multinational corporation Stark Enterprises (Wayne Enterprises + Stark Industries), it was clear to everyone that Bruce Stark was destined for greatness. He built his first circuit board when he was four years old, his first engine at age six, and graduated summa cum laude from MIT when he was just seventeen. People could see that he had a bright future ahead of him, but what they don't know is that any chance of that happening died when he was eight.

One night, Bruce was walking back home with his parents after a night at the theatre when they were approached by a mugger. The mugger killed both his parents right in front of him. From that day on, Bruce swore to put an end to the crime and corruption that had plagued Gotham.

After graduating from MIT, Bruce travelled around the world honing his body and mind to the peak of human perfection, mastering over 100 martial arts and becoming the world's greatest detective. But Bruce wouldn't know how exactly to wage his war against crime until the day he came to Afghanistan to learn under the world-renowned inventor, Sergei Yinsen (Sergei Alexandrov + Ho Yinsen).

Bruce met Sergei in his home village of Gulmira, only for the village to be attacked by terrorists using weapons built by Stark Enterprises. Bruce was knocked unconscious by a bomb, and when he woke up he was in a cave alongside Dr. Yinsen. The terrorists explained to them that shrapnel from the bomb was lodged inside Bruce's chest and if he and Sergei didn't build new weapons of mass destruction for them, they'd let the shrapnel work its way to Bruce's heart and kill him.

Bruce knew that they couldn't be trusted but agreed to their terms so that they would unwittingly give him his means of escape. First, he and Dr. Yinsen built an arc reactor, a miniature power source placed inside Bruce's chest, ensuring that the shrapnel wouldn't kill him. Then, they built a suit of armor powered by the arc reactor, equipped with all the weapons Bruce needed to fight his way out of there.

The armor worked like a charm, the terrorists didn't stand a chance against it. Tragically, Dr. Yinsen was killed during the battle. Bruce honored him the only way he could; he immediately returned to Gotham City, shut down Stark Enterprises weapons manufacturing division, and fired the interim CEO for selling weapons to America's enemies.

After returning to his family home for the first time in years, Bruce and his butler/surrogate father Alfred Jarvis (Alfred Pennyworth + Edwin Jarvis) began preparations for Bruce's war on crime. He built a secret laboratory in the caves underneath Stark Manor. There he created a new and improved suit of armor inspired by the many bats living within these caves. He designed this suit in their image in order to strike fear into the hearts of criminals everywhere.

By day, Bruce Stark was just another genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist. But at night, he'd defend Gotham and fight crime as the Armored Knight, the Invincible Iron Bat.

As Iron Bat, Bruce had faced countless criminals and supervillains in his one-man crusade against crime. At first, his only assistance was Alfred, serving as mission control, providing medical attention whenever necessary, and making sure Bruce actually gets some sleep. But that changed when he met a small boy who had just witnessed his parents' deaths, murdered right in front of him.

Bruce knew firsthand how damaging that was so he adopted the boy, Matt Grayson (Daredevil + Nightwing) and took him under his wing as his first sidekick, Warbird (War Machine + Robin). Ever since then, Iron Bat has had multiple partners in his mission to defend Gotham City, and these heroes have worked together long enough that they now consider each other family. This all came to a head when he founded the Avengers League (Avengers + Justice League) and now works alongside Earth's greatest heroes to deliver justice across the entire universe.

Bruce used to insist that he worked alone, but the truth was he had just felt alone ever since he watched his parents die. Now he realizes that he was never alone. And as long as there are people who care for him and believe in his mission to protect others and serve justice, he never will be.

Powers & Abilities: Thanks to his travels around the world, Bruce learned everything he needed to in order to launch his war on crime. He mastered 127 martial arts, as well as marksmanship, escape artistry, forensic science, tactics, pressure points, driving techniques, stealth, and the engineering knowledge he received from Sergei Yinsen which literally saved his life and made him the man he is today. All of these skills put together turned Bruce into a one-man army.

Iron Bat's greatest asset is, of course, the Iron Bat armors. Bruce has made dozens of armors over the years but all of them generally give Bruce the same abilities. These include flight, superhuman strength, incredible durability, a built-in grappling hook and more. Each suit can also shoots custom made shuriken called batarangs from its wrist. The batarangs themselves can either be regular throwing stars or they explode after hitting their target. Then there are repulsor blasts, concussive energy beams fired from the suit's palms and chest.

The armor also has a 200,000 volt electrode network. This means that if anyone actually tries to take it off him or see his face, they'll be electrocuted. He can also direct the electricity to his gauntlets to increase his striking power.

Built within the armor is a utility belt that carries even more weapons and devices, such as smoke pellets, tear gas, bolas, remote-detonated explosive gel, and a transponder that let's Bruce summon a swarm of bats to his side.

The helmet itself provides night vision, infrared vision and an onboard AI that follows Bruce's commands such as hacking enemy technology or remotely controlling all his other armors.

Speaking of, Iron Bat has built armors of all shapes and sizes, many of them made with the express purpose of defeating certain targets. These include the Doombuster, the Thunderbuster, the Leaguebuster, but the best one out of all of them would have to be the Godbat (Godbuster + Hellbat). Created within a virtual universe of Bruce's design then brought to life with the aid of his league teammates, the Godbat allows Bruce to go one-on-one with beings known to have faced all of Earth's greatest heroes at once such as Thanoseid (Thanos + Darkseid), the God of Tyranny or the Celestial Titans (Celestials + Omega Titans) who are believed to have created life throughout the entire universe.

Appearance: Bruce Stark has Caucasian skin, blue eyes and black hair with a goatee.

The armor covers Bruce's entire body and, in keeping with the bat imagery, has two pointed ears on the top of its head as well as a black cape that takes the form of large bat wings whenever in flight.

The armor mostly comes in two distinct colors, yellow and black, with the lower legs, gauntlets, torso and head being black while the thighs, upper arms, utility belt and faceplate are yellow. The faceplate itself features three white slits, one for each eye and the mouth. Lastly, is the glowing white bat symbol on the armor's chestplate that contains the arc reactor powering it.