First-Ever Writers Death Match: Round 1 (Part B)

Welcome to Round One of the First-Ever Writers Deathmatch! We have ten total submissions for the contest and as each one requires a bit of reading, we decided to break it up across two separate days. The various competitors are broken up completely randomly so there is absolutely no benefit to being in group A or B. Round One (Part A) voting has ended, and you can find the poll for (Part B) on the right side of the blog.

We have not changed any of the grammar or spelling of the writers' works so the characters and style are purely theirs. Vote for the three artists which present you with the most interesting, compelling and original characters.

"A famous superhero is imprisoned in a maximum security facility after years of loyal service to their community". It is up to you, the writer, to establish who the “superhero” is, why they are imprisoned, back story, characters and where the story goes from there. With that out of the way, here are the competitors and their characters:





Meg Cush

Nyx, whose real name is Theia Jones, was born the daughter of former child star Lisa-Raye Harper and her much older manager, Edward James Jones. Instead of following in her mother’s footsteps and taking the acting world by storm, she instead used her photographic reflexes and memory to her advantage and became the hottest thing to hit music with her first dance-hall hit, “Your Man Is Mine”. However, she ended up being a one-hit wonder. To fill the gaping hole that fame left in her, she decided to put her talents to use and became Nyx, the YouTube sensation. Armed with a camerawoman, various weapons like her bow-staff and battle salves, she took on crime in Philadelphia. Her costume is skin-tight, but with extra padding where need be in a dark gray. To hide her identity, she wears an electric blue wig over her pixie-cut red hair.

Nothing much is known about the man the city of Philadelphia became to know as Agent Kaos. Underneath his army fatigues and plain white mask, he is believed to be Hugo Galveston, a man whose genius knew little rivals, but was also a victim of the saying “there is a thin line between genius and insanity”. After ratings of Nyx’s YouTube channel “Woman of the Night” began to tank, her mother discovered a man willing to play the part of her own, personal super villain. Armed with his wits and expertise in the area of explosives, he played his part well. A little too well, to be exact. Much to Nyx’s horror, his last standoff ended with a school being blown to bits and the deaths of four hundred and sixty-eight children. Under his mask, he looks like any random vagrant on the street.

Lisa-Raye Harper was once America’s Sweetheart, having stared in numerous nation-wide commercials and the sitcom “All My Lives to Live” as Russian mob daughter, Mykahlia Romanov, before shooting to stardom on the ABC family sitcom “Fully Decked” as rebellious teen daughter, Maggie Deck. However, by the time she was nineteen, she was fired from the show for what they considered to be a breach of contract, in the form of getting pregnant while playing a sixteen year old character. By the time she gave birth to her only child, she was the most loathed woman in tabloid history. This made her a bitter and a bit deranged, which seeped into her mothering skills. After her daughter failed to gain the fame that eluted her, thanks to becoming a young mother, she pushed her into becoming a super hero and even was the driving force behind hiring Agent Kaos. She is the true villain of the story.



Phil Bledsoe       

Main character: “The Mind's Eye” a.k.a. horror author Grant Guignol, modern-day masked crime-fighter in the style of the Golden Age comics and pulps. Tougher than a gristle and bone meal sandwich, the Mind's Eye resembles Blade the Vampire Hunter played by Morgan Freeman, dressed as the Crimson Avenger with a secret identity as Stephen King. He uses a combination of Eastern mysticism (hence his name), physical force (up to and including lethal force, but only in self-defense), and his horror research background (aberrant psychology and occultism) to hunt serial killers, supernatural threats, and dangerous cryptid monsters. Already in his mid-50s and African-American, the Mind's Eye feels a certain distanme and  the predominantly younger, white, and (in his opinion) over-powerful, destructive and impulsive superhero community. This distance (physically and philosophically) will be his downfall.

Supporting character/antagonist: “The Human Sideshow” His nickname comes from the fact that he is obsessed with body modification (tattoos, piercings, implants, scarification, and branding) and once used his job as a traveling sideshow performer to cover his tracks when he began his serial killing career. Having narrowly survived a bullet from the Mind's Eye once before, and having escaped several prisons and institutions, the Sideshow now floats from one fringe cult group to another using his showmanship and charisma to push them over the line into human sacrifice, which he is more than happy to perform. The Mind's Eye is in pursuit of the Sideshow when the series begins, and this villain will appear throughout to bedevil the hero, although he is not the main threat.

Supporting character/antagonist: “Paragon” A Superman pastiche with an array of godlike powers, traditional costumed, handsome, and (outwardly at least) morally upright. He will appear alongside other “mainstream” superheroes, applying overbearing tactics and disregard for the public and individual liberties, as a contrast to the Mind's Eye. Although he is at first only philosophically at odds with the main character, their rivalry builds through the first half of the series and Paragon's condemnation of the Mind's Eye is what leads to that hero's eventual imprisonment. Paragon and Mind's Eye share a Superman/Batman rivalry, further exacerbated by age difference (Paragon is young) and cultural background (Paragon is white). Although racial tension is not a central theme to the story, it serves as a symbol of the division between the two men. Paragon might be “too noble” to bring it up, but Mind's Eye isn't.




David Kenny


Tina Trench, Female, 5’1”, short brown hair, Brown eyes, wiry frame and Tanned skin. The first issue would have her in The Facilities attire (Khaki Boiler suit, tough Khaki boots.) but when she is out on the surface she would have the top half of the boiler suit removed, using it as a bag, She wears a white vest. She walks around in bare feet. Her powers include Telekinesis, Telepathy. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world. In this new world we have a new race of humans with psychic capabilities. The Facility is a society wishing to take control of the world and they fear that these Psychics will try and stop them. The Facility then makes a huge prison where they send Psychics and give them a drug, which stops their abilities. Humanity is at war with a barbaric alien race known as The Drull.

Dal Stone, Male, 6’ 8”, Muscular, Short blonde hair, One Brown eye one white, both of which are small, Wide chin. Note; Needs distinctive cruel Smile. He has paler skin than Tina.  He wears tight Khaki Shorts, a tight black Top, and the Facilities Khaki Boots. His powers includes  Telekinesis, Telepathy. Dal, Was in a party of Motorcycle riding raiders. His gang came across the Village where Tina lives. After a quick attack the raiders sped off with a young girl. Tina then went after the raiders to go save the young girl, only to be too late. In a rage she attacked the men only to be unsuccessful against the barrage of psychic attacks from Dal. In the middle of the fight, Facility officials caught a reading of psychic activity and found the raiders and Tina. They killed the gang and took Dal and Tina.

The Tracker, Female, 5’ 6”, in the Series the Tracker is seen in a special suit which enables her to be camouflaged in the surroundings, she wears a helmet which covers her head, and the helmet enables her to not be heard by psychics unless they are very powerful and deliberately trying to hunter her out. Fitted into the helmet are goggles which have Telescopic as well as heat tracking capabilities. She has a small pod/glider which has the same Camouflaging ability as her suit. She is armed with a sniper and Darts, which holds the drug used to disable Psychic abilities. Her character is mostly shrouded in mystery and is basically trying to hunt the escapees down. She works for The Facility.


Marcus E.T.

Ragnarok is the world-famous superhero from Mercury who now resides in Mellow Springs, N.C.  He possesses strength to lift over a ton, able to generate intense heat and cold, fly at the speed of sound, and manipulate magnetic fields.  He has sapphire blue skin, ruby eyes, blood red hair tied into a queue, and a lean, muscular build.  He primarily wears a silver atmospheric suit that allows him to survive in any environment and bears the symbol of his home (a white crescent over a black symbol that resembles an “M”).  Born Rama Summus, he feels he has no need for an alter ego, but he chose a new name for his new life on Earth.  In Earth years he is 52 years old, but he comes off as a bit arrogant and immature and seems to have a bit of a mischievous side.

Marisol Del Ray is a beautiful 29-year-old Hispanic-American journalist with dark, almond shaped eyes, black, shoulder-length hair with brown highlights, and a slender, well-toned body; closely resembles Eva Mendez.  She has made a reputation for herself of capturing the most elusive stories at all costs.  Since the coming of what became known as the “Golden Age of Heroes” and the arrival of Ragnarok, she has become even more ambitious and she has gained a greater sense of security, but she has her suspicions the new hero isn’t all he seems.

Milo Hayes, better known as “Trace”, is a forty-one-year old mercenary who has made it a personal goal to make a name for himself by killing the world’s strongest superhumans.  He is African American with a robust build, hazel eyes, and shaven head.  His most distinguishing feature is a scar on the right cheek, shaped like the symbol for infinity.  He loves the sport of hunting and eliminating new game, and by his philosophy, “the more powerful the target, the more satisfying the kill”. He got into the business of being a hired gun 15 years ago, and in his career, he has managed to successfully eliminate over 100 men and three supermen. With a genius intellect, a technologically advanced suit of armor and a mastery of multiple weapons and various forms of martial arts, the only term he deems worthy of describing him is “invincible”.

Andrew Henderson

Half-Breed:  Bitten by one of the walking dead while giving birth, Marie Bluenote died during labor…but not before gracing the world with its first ever Human-Zombie hybrid…Half-Breed.  Human intelligence and emotions armed with a strengthened body impervious to pain.  The perfect soldier.  Half-Breed’s skin holds a bluish-green hue, discolored due to his partial infection from the Zombie Virus.  He possesses super-human strength, a durable body which is impervious to pain, and an unfortunate craving for flesh, which he must control by feeding upon animals or deceased corpses.  Half-Breed might look like a monster, but his mind is one of a brilliant scientist, ever longing to find a cure for his anomalous condition.  During the peak of the Zombie uprising, Half-Breed was part of “The Nightwatch”, an Elite Zombie Taskforce designed to help clean up the streets from the undead.  Five years later, with the Zombie uprising under control, Half-Breed finds himself locked away in a Federal Supermax Prison in Florence, Colorado for a heinous murder he may or may not have committed.  (Think Bruce Banner meets Hellboy.)

Commander Alistair Bane:  Commander Bane is the leader of “The Nightwatch”, and HalfBreed’s mentor and father figure.  Bane lost most of his left arm early during the uprising and  had it replaced with a robotic one which serves as multi-bladed limb of destruction.  But that’s not all he lost…he also lost his wife.  Hell-bent on the eradication of every single Zombie, Commander Bane was a consumed man focused only on revenge.  That is until he met Half-Breed.  After the death of Half-Breed’s mother during a Nightwatch extraction operation, Bane saved the new-born and raised him as his own.  While others were skeptical of the monstrous offspring, Bane saw him as a potential savior in the Zombie War.  Bane taught Half-Breed everything he knows; how to fight, how to think, and how to control his innate primal urges.  Bane is incredulous to Half-Breed’s imprisonment and determined to prove him innocent.  (Think Nick Fury.)

Mitchell Dekker:  Mitchell is C.E.O. of Imago Labs, a global-mega Biotechnology Corporation.  In this new Post-Zombie Apocalypse world, Mitchell is essentially a worldwide deity, trumping all forms of government for all intents and purposes.  Mitchell’s company was behind many of the innovations during the Zombie uprising which led to humanity’s regained control of the world.  Mitchell views Half-Breed as a Super Soldier…something which shouldn’t be cured, but rather emulated.  Despite having the notion rebuked on multiple occasions, Mitchell has pushed to have Half-Breed’s DNA replicated, creating an army of Super Soldiers to protect the world. (Or as other speculate, to take it over…)  Commander Bane is spurious as to Dekker’s ulterior motives, even going so far as to allege that Dekker himself created the Zombie virus as a means to gain financial and political power.  (Think Lex Luthor)