Blue Shield

(The hyperlinks in this entry go to the published version of the characters when there’s no profile for the Universe AZ version. It’s not technically accurate, but it’s helpful for those who don’t recognise every name.)

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Background

Powers and Abilities

Jason is a highly trained police officer, with training in operating the advanced IronsTec power armor used by the Metropolis SCU, as well as a wide range of skills appropriate to the well rounded criminal investigator.

Jason has taken legal classes for several years now. He is more knowledgeable than most suspect, though he has not passed the bar. He has also been studying several languages, and has gained some ability but is limited in that respect. Jason’s skills are, for the most part, not much above the best cops, aside from perhaps a bit more variety of training, but he is learning all the time.

Batman periodically sends various High level agents (like Tim Drake, Dinah Barton-Queen, Dwayne Taylor, or Ted Kord) to spend a few weeks with the team, giving them some new training, evaluating them, etc..

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Equipment

Costume

Jason had his costume made at “Look Fantastic” a costume shop exclusively catering to heroes in Four Freedoms Plaza and run by Fantastic Four Inc. He received the costume for no charge as Reed was absolutely delighted to examine his Korugarian belt.

Power belt

Jason wears a belt of ancient Korugarian technology. I brings into being a sort of “photonic armor” over his body, granting him a variety of powers, including superhuman strength, flight, enhanced senses, ranged energy attacks, and creating a shield of blue energy.

This belt and the “photonic armor” will even let him survive the rigors of space, and descend to a depth of nearly two miles underwater. The visual effect of the belt is a blue glow over the entire surface of Jason’s body.

This device is an ancient artifact from the early era of the Korugarian Wars. Nearly four million years ago, these belts were issued to Korugarian line soldiers, while officers were issued the Scarab Amulet Armor like that worn by Jamie Reyes. Jason discovered his belt in one of the caverns beneath Metropolis, similar to how Alan Scott discovered his GL ring in a cave under New York.

It is possible that Alan’s ring, Jamie’s Scarab, and Jason’s belt were left on Earth at roughly the same time, during the Korugarian Wars.

The battery in Jason’s belt is not original equipment. Shortly after he found his belt, even before he had really designed a costume, the original power source was damaged. Reed Richards designed a replacement battery that, while limited in its duration, still provided adequate power. Reed made two batteries and a compact charging station for them which Jason has used ever since.

The original power source became unstable after being damaged and ultimately was thrown into space by Supergirl before detonating.

Earbud radio

Bat-phone

Provided by Batman, this phone is actually a full blown computer, capable of far more than just making calls. The phone is equipped with an advanced camera, and assorted other capabilities common to modern phones in the real world, as well as video calling, internet access, a direct link to the computer at the group HQ, and a dedicated comm link to the other members of the team.

The Metropolis Office

Shortly after the birth of Christopher Kent/Jor El II on August 10^th 2005 Batman decided to do something nice for Clark and Lois. To that end he purchased a building in Metropolis (through a series of fronts) and began a complete reconstruction (utilizing his LMD  construction crew).

When it was done he had Oracle contact a number of minor heroes in the area of Metropolis (and neighboring Dakota) that he had been observing and evaluating, and arrange a meeting

When Blue Shield, Gangbuster, The Thorn, Fastball, Chain, and Jessica Jones arrived they were met by Batman. He informed them that he felt all of them had potential greater than they realized, and told them he wanted to help them achieve it, Batman asked them to work together, with access to and assistance from his network.

The offer was that the group operate in co-ordination, using a common HQ he was providing, with all expenses paid.

The headquarters is a four story brownstone in the Hob’s Bay, or Suicide Slums, neighborhood of Metropolis. The top floor is a garage/hanger with an entrance hatch in the ceiling and a ceiling height of 20 feet. The next floor down is the general headquarters space, comprising the central meeting room/ lounge, a kitchen, comm room, workroom (Lab), gym/danger room, etc.

The next lower floor is actually the ground floor, the double height of the top floor being the reason, the floor is largely a continuation of the above floor, with a number of apartments as well. The HQ also has a secretary, who is an LMD provided by Batman, and handles all of the tasks of upkeep on the facility (along with a small number of light robots).

Naturally the HQ houses a powerful computer core, with direct links into the “Bat-Network” of computers, and operates over Oracle’s secured internet hub.

The team got their name one evening after an especially hard day. As they sat painfully in various areas of the room, they became aware of an incoming call on the secure line to the Bat. Chain answered the call with a sarcastic “Bat Network, Metropolis Office”, and Oracle (on the other end) burst out laughing, as did the whole group.

History

Jason Higgins, the grandson of Joseph Higgins aka The Shield, was born in 1985. His father Frank Higgins was a police officer in New York, and groomed his son to be the same. Jason was a good student, but not spectacularly so. By the time he graduated from High School he was as skilled as the average Police Academy graduate.

Jason eventually took a job with the Metropolis Police Department in early 2003 (at 18) and he was initially assigned to a beat in the city’s south end.

He met several of the members of the “Superman Family” in brief encounters (usually dropping off criminals). He also received a commendation from the department for bravery above and beyond the call of duty for his actions during an assault on the city by Grayven, the half Kherubim son of Darkseid, who was attempting to capture Kara El for his father.

Grayven was ultimately defeated, and sent back to his father in chains (just for insult).

Jason then found himself assigned to the prestigious Special Crimes Unit (apparently he impressed the Mayor).

Six months later Jason was sent into one of the cave systems beneath Metropolis (along with other officers) in a search and rescue operation after an earthquake had caused a number of buildings to collapse into the underground areas, additional cave-ins in the lower caves where the Morlocks community of former Cadmus experiments and non-human looking Metahumans live, meant even more lives in danger.

A sudden glow of blue

As the operation moved forward Jason made several trips into the caves and back out, bringing groups of injured (Morlock and Metropolitan) to the surface, each trip venturing deeper into the complex system of caves. Hours later Jason stumbled on a feral non-sentient experiment from Cadmus.

He put up a pretty good fight, but his SCU power armor  was no match for the powerful creature, and his suit suffered heavy damage. Temporarily evading the creature, Jason fled down a side tunnel, hoping to use his suits sensors to move back to the surface. A few minutes later his suit gave out, removing the suit by triggering the emergency release, he abandoned it and moved on.

With only a flashlight, wrist-comp, and his side arm, Jason still believed he could reach the surface, until he heard the creature behind him once more. Then, around a bend in the passage, he saw a blue light. Whe he rounded the bend he found a large chamber with an obviously alien life pod half buried in the cavern wall, the hatch damaged and partially opened, the glow coming from underneath.

Desperation spurred him to open the capsule, and inside he found a belt, emitting the light, and an empty suit of some silvery material (the unform of a Korugarian seargant, who died in the tube due to a bad landing, and prior injuries). Snatching up the belt Jason put it on, and suddenly felt as if he had his suit around him again.

As an alien HUD took shape in front of his eyes he realized the belt gave him some kind of “Energy Armor” (his skills as a power armor pilot giving him an intuition). As the creature charged into the chamber he grappled with it and found it was now at a disadvantage.

Discovering new capabilities as he went, Jason was able to destroy the dangerous predator (which had been preying on both the Morlocks and the non-humans who live even further down). Retrieving his SCU Armor, and returning to the surface, Jason determined that he would resign from the Police force and become a superhero like his grandfather.

But he decided he would do it by obtaining a special classification of Private Investigator’s license. This type of license is issued to Metahumans (or more appropriately anyone who can pass the qualifying course, run at the Xavier Institute, it’s only a three month course) who want to fight crime in direct concert with conventional law enforcement, and includes privileges not accorded to a PI, like making arrests, and ability to work as a “powered emergency responder” for cities.

The Blue Shield

By the time he passed the course he a had grown comfortable with the belt. After his instructor Mr. Ramsey showed him how to reset the HUD’s language setting, he felt he was ready to start. Wearing the suit from the alien capsule, unadorned, he made no effort to hide his identity, and in fact dropped by Inspector Sawyer’s office to inform the SCU that he was still “on the job”.

Calling himself Blue Shield, as an homage to his grandfather, and in note of the blue glow his belt produces. He was not the most prominent hero, but Jason was coming to be known as a solid, smart young man, who always put the lives of others before himself.

Just a few months later (late 2004) Jason tried to assist the new Supergirl (Kara El) when she was assaulted by Supremium powered agents of Black Zero. Jason was badly overpowered, and only the timely arrival of Superman, Supreme, and Icon kept his career from a premature end. As it was the alien suit was shredded, and the power cell of his belt was damaged.

As the trio of heroes engaged three of General Zod’s soldiers, Supergirl checked on Blue Shield, and her senses told her of the dangerous energy leaking from the damaged belt. A check on the situation told her that the others could handle the situation for the moment. Thinking quickly she flew Jason to Four Freedoms Plaza in New York, and returned to the fight in only a matter of minutes.

By the time Supergirl got back to the fight, Superboy (Connor) and his fiancée Wonder Girl (Cassie), had also joined in, and the Black Zero agents were soon captured. They would later be sentenced to imprisonment in the Phantom Zone.

Meanwhile Reed Richards was working on Jason’s belt, he was able to build a usable replacement power cell, and Jason got a new costume (and if the belt itself is ever destroyed it is likely Jason could get a replacement from Reed).

As Blue Shield Jason continued to build his reputation among heroes (and cops) in the Metropolis/Dakota area over the next year. In August 2005 Jason received a call from an unknown woman (Oracle), who requested that he come to an address in Suicide Slums later that night.

She explained that she was part of a group who wanted to help his efforts to fight crime in Metropolis, as a way of “giving back” to Superman for the decades he has spent protecting the city.

Wary, but certainly interested, Jason arrived in costume, and found 5 other heroes also arriving, Gangbuster (Delgado), The Thorn (Forrest), Fastball and Chain (ports from GURPS Supers Mixed Doubles), and Jessica Jones PI (now known as Hardshell). As they asked each other which of them had called the meeting Batman stepped into view.

After the conversation with Batman, Jason and the others, who all had public identities anyway, began operating out of the HQ Batman provided. Jason moved into an apartment in the building, as did Jessica (not the same one), and Delgado.

The Metropolis Office

The team had some heavy friction initially, but things settled down eventually, Jones is the team leader, by virtue of being the most forceful personality, and really being the best suited. The team handles mostly street crime, but will assist wherever needed, if obviously outmatched they will stall, try to clear civillians, and fight if they have to.

If forced to fight overpowering foes they have developed a highly irritating co-operative fighting style, that usually results in such adversaries being blindsided by an arriving Superman (or one of the other heroes in the Superman Family).

The group operates in both Metropolis and Dakota. In the UAZ the two cities take the place of Kansas City, Kansas (Metropolis) and Kansas City, Missouri (Dakota). In the UAZ there is a small inland sea between the two cities (about the same size as the Dead Sea), a legacy of a battle in 1 Million BC between time-travelling members of the Legion of Super Heroes (with several Superboys present) and Mordru, Glorith, and Dormammu.

This sea is linked to the ocean by an enlarged Mississippi River, with locks constructed at certain points, allowing ships to travel all the way to Metropolis and Dakota, and back to the Gulf of Mexico, this does not imply any loss of land area for the North American continent, as the UAZ’s Earth is 100 miles larger in diameter than the real Earth.

The Metropolis Office usually split up to different areas of the city, but they are able to regroup quickly. While Gangbuster and Blue Shield keep pushing to get a few more members, Jessica is not convinced she is ready for the added stress, or for feeling as responsible as she does for even more people.

In addition to his work with the team, Jason has taken to working on “Cold Cases” (homicides that have gone unsolved), as it feels like a sign of respect to his father. He has solved several of these cases, even getting Jessica to help a few times. His license does give him the needed legal status to work on the cases (Jessica holds the same license).

One of Jason’s proudest moments came when he saved the life of Captain America in 2009, then fighting beside him against the Masters of Evil. He introduced himself afterwards, and Cap told him he had known Jason’s grandfather, and offered to tell him more sometime.

Jason soon met Steve, and several other people who had known Joe Higgins, like Nick Fury, Nathan Ross (aka Challenger), Natalia Romanova (she knew Joe as an adversary), and a few others. He has since continued to associate with Cap and the other heroes of his “family”.

Description

Jason is a fit young caucasian human, with light brown hair, blue eyes, and an almost perpetually serious demeanor. He dresses in comfortable clothing, not speding a lot of money on it.

His Blue Shield costume is blue with white gloves and boots, and a stylized shield emblazoned on the chest. The suit covers the entire body except the eyes and lower face.

Personality

Jason is a very serious young man, driven to uphold the legacy of his father and grandfather. He takes his responsibility very much to heart, and is somewhat lonely outside of his costumed friends.

His growing friendships with Captain America and others have made him somewhat more open and have revealed a sarcastic wit behind his serious demeanor.

By Azrael.

Source of Character: Though inspired by material from Marvel, and Archie Comics, this character is largely an original construction.

Helper(s): Frank Murdoch, for inspiring me to research Joe Higgins. Eric Langendorff for the underwater situation modifiers.

Writeup completed on the 8^th of December, 2012.