Batman OC: Harbinger

May 16.  11:45pm

Tonight's the night.
I'm not sure why, but I've decided to make this little audio journal before I go.
I feel the need to talk this through, even if it's just to myself.
Well, the old me.
After tonight I will be a different person.

I suppose I should start at the beginning.
I was a student at a prestigious university in gotham, studying for a degree in human psychology.
I was enjoying my school life, but something felt wrong.
It was a like a whisper in the back of my head, something was just irritating me.
My studies in human psychology started making me very cynical when I considered the state of the modern world.
In one class we were debating criminal illness, and someone brought up the topic of capital punishment.
We all talked but I felt I was the only one who really thought it could be a just decision in some cases.
The simple fact is, the world would be better off without some people.
The Scarecrow, the Riddler, Two-face, Poison Ivy and of course The Joker.
These people; among others, have been stopped a number of times but always come back just as they were before.
They are never going to change, they will be criminals until they are dead and until they are dead the people of Gotham will be in danger.

I began researching into the possible use of hypnosis on criminals to end their desire for crime.
Of course ordinary hypnosis can't change who someone is, but I looked for a different and less orthodox type of hypnosis.
I studied how the brain reacts to certain stimuli, trying to see if could find a way to replicate them.
If you can induce a sense of guilt onto a criminal, you may be able to permanently stop them from committing crime.

I had a breakthrough, three in fact.
A unique form of flashing light can send signals to a persons brain, signals other than telling you what you're seeing.
A specific sound at a certain frequency can relax the person hearing it, allowing easier introduction of chosen stimuli.
Finally, a timed pulse of air; among other things I'm reluctant to reveal, cause a mild state of dizziness.
These three combined can place the subject in a state where they are extremely susceptible to suggestion.
However, it was not a direct suggestion.
The old example of telling someone 'don't think of a cat', is a direct suggestion.
My method made them unaware that I gave them the suggestion and they believe the thought was theirs to begin with.

I didn't actually make someone think of a cat of course.
My experiment was to plant the idea that someone liked them, someone who wasn't actually interested in them.
Before I knew it the subject was acting noticeably different when their 'secret admirer' was around.
The next stage of the experiment was frankly astonishing.
I erased the suggestion that the subject had a secret admirer, then waited until I was alone with said admirer and convinced them that the subject was the kind of person they might like.
In less than a week my subject was asked out for a date, but didn't expect and was taken completely by surprise.
I'd successfully been able to plant and erase; what I now know are stronger than mere suggestions, into the minds of others.

On a side note, I allowed them to continue dating.
I had nothing more to learn from them, so I left them alone.
I suppose they seem happy together, but that's not my concern or my business.

After more research I discovered a way to make a direct suggestion but still have the subject believe it to be their own.
By planting the suggestion while the subject slept, the outcome is much more direct and more powerful; so to speak.
Rather than a subtle suggestion that slowly allows the subject to convince themselves into something, It immediately changed their mind on whatever idea I had given them.

In one night I'd made a classmate doubt that their parents were really their parents, that they were adopted and were never told.
The subject had never wondered this before; as far as I know.
Then the very next night I erased the suggestion while they slept and the next day they were confused as to where the idea came from in the first place.
Now, rather than giving someone an idea and hoping they convince themselves it's true, I can give someone an idea in there sleep and have them believe it's true immediately.
Only one question remained now, what to use this discovery for?
I'd thought of using it for medicinal purposes, curing phobias, dealing with depression or even a placebo effect.
The answer came to me soon after.

I was mugged one night.
I'm not a very athletic person, so I didn't have much of a chance.
As I prepared myself for a serious beating, my attacker froze, let go of me and ran.
He didn't get far before a pair of bolas wrapped round his legs.
I turned and saw Batman himself standing behind me.
I wont drag it out, he saved me, the police arrived, the whole thing was resolved etcetera etcetera.
One thing stuck in my mind after that, fear.
That mugger was terrified of Batman.

My path became clear, I had to use this technology I'd developed to help people.
I 'convinced' an engineering student make a gauntlet for me.
In the palm of the hand there was the light to stimulate the target through their eyes, along the wrist there were speakers that produced both the sound and the pulse to put the target under my control.
After that I had a chemistry professor to create a fast acting drug that puts whoever takes it into a semiconscious state, so I could plant suggestions while they were awake just as easily as if they were asleep.
This would be put into darts and fired from the forearm of my gauntlet.
I then made sure neither of them believed I would ask for such things, believing they made them of their own accord and then disposed of them.

I grew nervous, not surprisingly.
I'm not physically strong so if something went wrong I might receive worse that a mere mugging.
I've made an alteration to the gauntlet.
I added a tazer to the wrist in case I'm in a position where nothing else works.
As well as the gauntlet, I bought a bulletproof vest and other protective padding.

I amm nervous, there's no denying that.
Maybe that's the reason I felt like recording this journal, in case something goes wrong.
Or maybe I just want to put off going leaving to see if this will work.
Either way it doesn't matter, I've made up my mind and it's time for me to go.
When I come back the world wont have changed much, but I will be a different person entirely.
Tonight's the night.

May 17.  3:22am

It worked, it really worked.
I trusted my research but some part of me was still worried that something would go wrong.
I went to a more 'shady' area of Gotham and started wandering down back alleys.
After a while I came across a man talking on his phone; something about his 'boss' and some 'jobs' he'd be doing.
He noticed me and then started coming towards me, asking if I was lost in a threatening manner.
He was taken back by the mask I was wearing, which gave me my opportunity.
I fired a dart into him and within seconds he was disorientated, so much so he was finding hard to stand.
So I walked up to him and began speaking.

I first introduced myself as 'Omen'.
Giving myself a name makes a symbolic connection, so when word of me spreads so will the fear.
I talked about him, about the world and what he was doing to it.
The results were instantaneous, he was already seriously considering the weight of his actions.
At one point he even suggested; without a word from me, that his deceased father would be ashamed of him.
Finally I told him it wasn't too late to change, to live an honest life and make his family proud.
So I left, with him still mumbling words of guilt to himself.
Now all that's left it to wait and see if the effect is permanent.

May 21. 3:30pm

It turns out I was wrong.
In the newspaper today I found an article about a body being found in the Gotham river.
It was the man I'd cured in the alley.
Whoever his leader was obviously didn't want him to just up and leave, so they had him killed.
I can't believe I didn't consider this as a possibility, it was naive of me.

This made me realise what's wrong with the world.
It's rotten, with too many wastes of breath polluting it with their filth.
Curing random people on the street wont do it, I have to attack the source.
Eliminating the leaders of crime syndicates will quickly end their operations.
If a new leader is appointed then I'll eliminate them too.
To do this I'll need more than just a gauntlet and a mask.

June 3. 7:50pm

I've made a second gauntlet; obviously double the gauntlets means double the effect.
Not only that I've increased the power it uses, making more effective use of the technology.
I think even one of the three methods will be enough to put someone under my control now.
I've also developed a belt that produces a much stronger pulse.
In theory it will cause dizziness and confusion; to anyone besides myself of course, the moment I activate it.
Finally I've made a full costume for myself; like Batman, I will become a symbol.
A symbol to criminals that their time is nearly at an end.
I will become an Omen of their demise.

June 29. 11:20am

It's been almost a month now and I can say for certain it's working.
The media is in a frenzy about me and the number of criminals now dead.
I find anyone who I think is a part of a syndicate, then 'convince' them to tell me who their leader is.
After that I give them my mark, a winged skeleton on a crucifix.
Then I whisper thing like: 'he's going to get rid of you, he's going to kill you, unless you kill him first, you know you can, you have to, he gave you no choice'.
When I'm done I simply take my leave and wait.

In a matter of days the crime rate in the city dropped by 6 percent.
It may not sound like much but it is a huge achievement and only the beginning.
I will show Gotham that simply killing these scum ends their reign extremely quicker than merely arresting them.
When they realise I'm right they'll start to do it themselves.
Before long other cities will look to Gotham and see a beautiful and crime free city.
After that it's only a matter of time before the whole world will follow my example.
I will have a perfect world.
My perfect world.

June 20. 4:10 am

Damn it!
*Angry shouts and items breaking*
He's wrong!
I came across Batman tonight and I thought he of all people would understand what I was doing.
Instead he insulted me, called me a murderer no better than those I had killed!
I explained how I would make my perfect world and he told me I was wrong.
He said that I didn't want to save this world, I wanted to rule it and that I only do what I do is because I think myself a god.

Well why not?!
I am the one creating order in this world, the one who will change it, the one that will purge it!
I knew I had to do this.
No, I'm the only one who can!
I will become justice, my words law, my world a utopia and any who deface it will die!
I have to be more than just an omen, I will become a reaper of evil souls, an angel of death.

I will not be an omen, a warning that a new world is coming.
I will be the one who brings it, whether they want me to or not.
I am the only hope for mankind's future, a new world governed by fear and ruled by me.
I will be god.
I am god.

I am Harbinger.