 |
|
Derek Powers was a corrupt businessman turned super villain who ran afoul of Batman (Terry McGinnis).
History
Dubbed a "financial star" and "Corporate Kingpin" by the media, Derek Powers was Gotham's most successful and powerful chief executive officer. Little is known about his past, but before merging with Wayne Enterprise, Powers ran Powers Technology. Over the course of the years, he attempted to take over Bruce Wayne's corporate empire several times, until he finally succeeded. Derek Powers soon gain a reputation of a corporate shark due to his copious takeovers and infamous downsizes. One of his first actions after forming Wayne-Powers was firing Lucius Fox Jr., Wayne Enterprise's vice-president. This decision prompted an ongoing feud between Powers and Bruce Wayne thereafter.
Given to Bruce Wayne's state of health, Powers was free to run Wayne-Powers unsupervised. Over the course of the next few years, he continued to thrive, by acquiring several local industrial firms. Powers was also involved in the business of munitions; though it's unknown when exactly that first took place.
Powers smooth talking to Warren McGinnis.
The gruesome effect of the gas on an unwilling test subject.
At one point, he developed a deadly viral mutagen and intended to sell it internationally. In order to test it, Powers infected one of his employees, Harry Tully, making it look like an accidental leak. When his body began to deteriorate, Tully handed Warren McGinnis a disc containing information about the virus and Wayne-Powers' involvement.
Powers quickly tried to control the damage Tully might have caused, so he sent Mr. Fixx after him. Then, Powers summoned Warren McGinnis to his office and explained that Tully had simply suffered an allergic reaction to a chemical compound in the laboratory. He also assured that Harry was under care, even though it was nothing to worry about. When Warren was on his way out, Powers nonchalantly asked him about a missing file from Tully records. Warren claimed not knowing anything about it, but Powers could tell he was lying. So, he commanded Mr. Fixx to murder Warren. When the body was found, Powers publicly pledged to use all his resources to trace and prosecute the culprits to the full extend of the law.
Powers had Mary McGinnis' apartment under surveillance, and when Warren's son, Terry McGinnis, found Harry Tully's file, Powers intercepted him, when the latter was en route to the GCPD. Powers bullied Terry into giving him the disc, which prompted the youngster to swiped Bruce Wayne's Batsuit and stalk Powers.
Shortly after, Veilmos Egans visited Gotham to attend to the World Trade conference. However, he had other business with Powers. Both met in Powers' office, where he pitched his nerve gas to the Kasnian Minister. Powers screened a film that depicted the deadly effects of the gas, showing experiments endured on plants and animals. Lastly, he showed Egans pictures of Harry Tully's condition after an "accidental leak" in his lab. They sealed the deal, which according to Powers would open the entire eastern block for Wayne-Powers.
Powers is infected by his own nerve gas.
The radiation treatment's unexpected side effect.
When the canisters were being loading in the north-east sector of Wayne-Powers, Powers and his team were intercepted by the arrival of Batman. Powers engaged him, and accidentally shot a vial containing the gas, exposing himself to the virus. He was hustled into intensive care, where he underwent an intense radiation treatment. The procedure eradicated the virus, however, the mutational properties of the virus were corrupted by its environment, and as side effect it turned Powers' flesh into bright green translucent.
Powers' medical staff concocted a synthetic skin that contained the radiations emitted by Powers. For some time, Powers' condition was kept a secret, which only a select few people knew about. Powers continued with his business while his scientists strove to find a cure.
Dirty Dealings
Derek's ambition and illicit ways would often lead him to enlist high profile criminals to do help him get ahead. When the government decided to build a new lunar station, Wayne-Powers became one of two contenders for the job, with Foxteca being the other. So, Powers hired Inque to sabotage the competition. On the morning after the first disruption of a Foxteca facility, Powers was visited by Bruce Wayne, who tersely told him to stay away from that conglomerate. Inque witnessed the argument, and despite her worried tone, Powers discredited Bruce's threats due to his old age, and gave her another task.
Powers sheds when rubbed the wrong way.
On the next day, Powers was informed, much to his displeasure, that the damage done on Foxteca was minimal, and that they were still effective. Right then, Inque personally reported that someone in a black and red costume it had been interfering. Powers immediately realized it was Batman, and this aggravation caused his cosmetic covering to disintegrate. Consequently, he gave her another job: to find and kill Batman, along with his accomplice, for what ever price she wanted. Seeing as Inque ultimately failed in her assignments, it is unknown which of the too companies got to build the lunar station.
The nonchalant CEO goads Shriek to murder Bruce Wayne and Batman.
As a businessman, Powers never made a move which he couldn't profit from, in any kind of way. Among the several local companies he acquired, Powers took over Shreeve Sound Laboratory. He bailed out Walter Shreeve's company from bankruptcy, seemingly with the interest in financing his sound research. However, his ulterior motive came to surface when he commanded Shreeve to use his sound suit to assassinate Bruce Wayne. Powers wanted to purchase Gotham City's historical district and bulldoze it to make way for another industrial complex. A motion strongly opposed by Bruce Wayne, who assembled a stockholder meeting to put the matter to a vote. Knowing full well that Bruce enjoyed of a huge influence and respect, Powers decided the only solution was taking him out of his way, permanently.
After failing to kill Bruce Wayne, Shreeve was tracked down by Batman, and he inadvertently became exposed as a criminal. He held Powers responsible for that, so he sought revenge. Powers smoothly and calmly dissuaded him by reminding Shreeve of the power he possessed with his suit. Powers even gave him a new moniker — Shriek — and then told him to finish his job, and kill whoever stood in his way. Much to his displeasure, Shriek failed to delivery his assignment, and Powers motion was defeated by the stockholders.
Blight Is Born
Powers' alter ego... Blight.
Among Powers' illegitimate doings, there was also toxic waste dumping. One night, Powers got a phone call from Batman letting him know he had foiled one of those shipments and apprehended his lackeys. Furious, Powers' fake skin flaked off again and he sought his medical staff, who informed him that the radiation emanating from his body was getting stronger. At that point, Dr. Stephanie Lake interceded and made a bold suggestion: to use Powers' baseline DNA to build him a new body and then transfer his consciousness into it. But first, Dr. Lake wanted to test that procedure in someone who also had systemically damaged DNA — Mr. Freeze, whose head was stored in the laboratory.
Blight vs. Mr. Freeze.
After the procedure's success, Powers announced to the press that Victor Fries had had paid his debt to society, and that the technology used to restore him would be used to save millions of lives. However, when Fries' genetic makeup began to collapse, Powers remarked that the only way to find the cause would be to biopsy his organs at that stage. Dr. Lake interpreted that observation as a suggestion and tried to kill Fries, who managed to flee, however.
Later on, Powers and Dr. Lake were attacked by Mr. Freeze, who was now sporting a new deadly containment suit. When Powers tried to make a run for it, he was frozen in a block of ice. However, his molecular mutation thawed him out and he set off to kill Freeze, who was attempting to bring down the laboratory. Powers was promptly thwarted by Batman, and when asked whom he was, he introduced himself as Blight. He bombarded the hero with a dose of radioactive bolts, until he was propelled by Mr. Freeze into a lake across the city.
The Overthrown
Powers confides in his son.
Powers desperately continued seeking a cure for his biohazard condition, which was increasingly exacerbating. The radiation his body emitted was escalating, and as a result, he burned through his skin more quickly. Blight broke into Plas-Tech to heist a batch of Polymold canisters, in hopes of devising a more resistant synthetic skin, but he was foiled by Batman. Powers was growing weary of his situation, so he decided to take measures that would allow him to quietly retire from the public, and then find a cure.
Powers is conned into exposing himself.
He summoned his exiled son, Paxton Powers who was the head of the Wayne-Powers office in Verdeza, South America. Derek proposed to grant him the job of acting chairman of Wayne-Powers. However, Powers only intended that to be a public title, while he retained his authority and could operate through his son behind the scenes. Powers announced his temporary leave to the board, citing health problems.
The meeting was abruptly interrupted by the spokesperson of the fishermen from Verdeza who accused Paxton of polluting the rivers, and cutting off his people's livelihood. Powers lost all composure and started to burn through his skin, exposing his identity to the board, including Bruce Wayne and Terry McGinnis, who was watching the meeting through vidlink. When Wayne thwarted Powers from killing the fisherman, he attempted to kill Wayne, professing a long-lasting desire to do so. Batman crashed in on time, foiling him once again. Powers went berserk, made a run for it, and thus became a wanted fugitive.
Paxton shows his true colors.
Unbeknownst to Powers, this squabble was staged by his son, who wanted to bait his father into exposing himself, and then usurp his thrown. Powers contacted Paxton and asked for his medical staff to restore his skin, so that he could get out of town. Though, under the pretense of trying to help, Paxton sent his father an ambulance instead. Facing the possibility of being arrested, Powers was compelled to go underground. He retreated to an abandoned nuclear submarine that cloaked his radiation trail. Apparently the only person aware of his location was Miss Winston, who provided Powers with sustenance.
Powers brings down the sub.
However, Batman managed to track him down, at Paxton's behest, and taunted Powers, luring him into a prearranged location. Enraged, Powers asked why he was tormenting him, and Batman revealed that he had killed his father. However, Powers simply retorted "Do you have slightest idea of how little it narrows it down?". At that point, Paxton's men entrapped Powers in the special net built to drain his radiation. Paxton revealed himself, and told Powers that the only way he could have any power was with him dead. He moved on to claim that he was merely enacting what he had learned from his father: "the only way to get power is to seize it." When Batman tried to stop Paxton, the Pinchcell was damaged, halting the draining. Powers quickly recovered and his rage and powers went out of control. The submarine was destroyed from within, and sunk with Powers onboard. Derek Powers' body was never found and his fate remains unknown.
Powers and Abilities
Blight unleashes his power.
|
Powers' radioactive condition was symptomatic of his exposure to the nerve gas and consequent radiation treatment. His cellular structure was permanently imbued with the radiation that cured him, and thereafter his body glowed bright green. His intrinsic radiation could be contained with a special cosmetic skin devised by his medical staff, but every time Powers lost his composure, his skin flaked off. His very touch was lethal, and could burn through objects on contact. Powers soon learned how to concentrate his radiation into energy balls, which he then hurled at his opponents.
Appearances and References
Batman Beyond
- "Rebirth"
- "Black Out"
- "Meltdown"
- "Shriek"
- "Ascension"
- "Where's Terry?" (Mentioned Only)
- "King's Ransom" (Mentioned Only)
- "Countdown" (Mentioned Only)