Justice

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Powers and Abilities

Justice is able to psionically  create two forms of energy.

Sword and shield

From his right (or “sword”) hand, he releases blasts of intense heat. These are capable of completely reducing a human body to ash in seconds. He can vary the size of the beam from scalpel-thin to at least six feet in diameter. He can also use this hand to release dazzling bursts of light.

From his left (or “shield”) hand, he is able to create rectangular force fields of varying sizes. These fields are resistant to both physical and energy attacks. They can withstand the impact of a bullet, but can be made to also absorb the impact of a person falling from great heights without injury to the person. He can project these shields around himself and other people.

It requires great energy and concentration to use these shields. It is thus difficult for him to maintain them for an extended amount of time, or to use them over a large area.

He can create small shields, which he can send into someone’s mouth, choking them. He can also use shields as rising platforms to climb to great heights. He has used the shields to impart a strong push against a target, knocking them back several yards, or disarming an armed opponent.

Each of Justice’s powers are guided by the opposite hemispheres of his brain. He is most adept with using the right and left hands for sword and shield, respectively. But he can, with effort, use either hand for either power. However, he cannot use both powers simultaneously.

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Other powers

Justice can perceive the aura around people to determine if they possess paranormal powers. He initially believed this ability to allow him to tell good from evil, but this may be part of Darquill’s illusions.

While in Darquill’s hallucinatory world, he also displayed the ability to sense other’s emotional states through their auras. Thus, he was able to tell whether they were being truthful, whether they intended him harm, or whether they were in pain.

In addition, Justice can somehow perceive Miriam Morse, (aka Playback) when she is observing past events. He can sense her presence when she is looking back from the future, at what he is doing in the present. In DC Heroes RGP terms, this is assumed to have been a Subplot.

Justice once demonstrated the ability to grow back a severed hand. But this, too, may have been a manifestation of Darquill’s dream world. Our game stats assume it actually happened.

Other assets and weaknesses

Justice is an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant, as he is well coordinated and athletic. He is able to take down as many as six armed police at a time in hand to hand. He is unusually strong for his size and build, which may be part of his paranormality. He has physical strength sufficient to tear a padlock off a door, or break a pair of handcuffs.

Tensen suffered some sort of permanent brain damage from the long amount of time he spent with Darquill’s paranormal hallucinatory world. Because of this damage, Justice is extremely susceptible to any form of drug which interacts with his brain. If a drug is used on him, it may cause him to revert back to his hallucinatory state.

In this state, all beings, both real and imagined, will take on different, often fantastic forms. Justice will also have a vastly different perception of himself when hallucinating.

The New Universe

The New Universe was a line of comics released by Marvel from 1986 to 1990, consisting of eight titles:

• D.P.7.
• Justice.
• Kickers Inc..
• Mark Hazzard: Merc.
• Nightmask.
• Psi-Force.
• Spitfire and the Troubleshooters.
• The Star Brand.

The concept of the line was that the Earth depicted in each title was our own world, in every respect. That lasted until the moment a strange atmospheric disturbance, referred to as the White Event, occurred and gave a small percentage of the world’s population superpowers.

This means:

1. That no superheroes, supervillains, aliens, or extranormal entities existed in the New Universe.
2. That their technology was on-par with ours as of 1986.

That the citizens of the New Universe read about Marvel Comics superheroes just like you and I have over the years.

In addition, the comics took place in real-time. That is, in a year’s worth of issues, a year passes for all the people of the New Universe.

History

John Tensen was born in Teaneck, New Jersey in the alternate Earth dimension known as the New Universe. Even as a youth, John Tensen dreamed of being the good guy, the man with the white hat. In high school, Tensen earned the nickname “narc” when he beat up some other students who had offered him drugs.

Tensen married his girlfriend Irene, right out of high school. A year later, their daughter, Angela, was born. After the baby was born, Irene worked while John went to college. After graduation, the Tensens moved to Washington, DC, where he landed a job in the Justice Department, narcotics division.

John worked his way up and became one of the top investigators. He broke countless operations and made countless enemies, but he seemed and felt invincible. However, one day one of Tensen’s enemies placed a bomb in his car, which took his wife’s life.

After Irene’s death, Tensen tracked down and busted those responsible. But he withdrew from his personal life and his daughter, whom he could barely look at because she reminded him of his wife.

White Event

Shortly after Angela went to college, Tensen was placed in charge of taking down the druglord Daedalus Darquill. He was sent in undercover. Then the White Event occurred. Like everyone on Earth, Tensen was exposed to the energies released from a manifestation of the Starbrand power. That same day, John Tensen began to develop fierce migraines.

Tensen tracked down Damon Conquest, the head of a drug cartel. However, Conquest was an agent of Darquill, and he brought Tensen to him. Darquill targeted Tensen with his hallucination power, intending to transform him into one of his “Hounds.”

Tensen managed to partially deflect Darquill’s mental attack with his shield, so that rather than become one of Darquill’s slaves, he instead became part of his imaginary dreamworld, the Far Place.

Tensen came to believe that he was a native of this otherdimensional realm. There he was a Justice Warrior for the Land of Spring, which was opposed by the Land of Winter, which was ruled by Darquill. The Far Place was a world of magic, and Tensen served under the king, Therion. However, he had a secret affair with the queen, Endolana.

As a result of a struggle against the agents of Darquill, Tensen was apparently transported to Earth.

Back to reality (somewhat)

Justice seemingly arrived on Earth. He was bewildered by the strange customs of Earth, but used his “aura power” to determine the good from the bad. In Manhattan, New York, he tracked down a drug ring working out of a nightclub called the Factory.

He executed Chango Villalobos (the head of the drug ring) and Martin Roth (the corrupt owner of the Factory), as well as Jean-Paul, a corrupt member of the NYPD. During this encounter, he also met Rebecca Chambers and Hoyt Pittman. These two cops saw him as the murderer of an innocent policeman. They arrested Justice and sent him to jail.

As Rebecca Chambers questioned Justice, they were attacked by “Hounds”, believed to be soul-less warriors of Darquill. Justice slew the Hounds and managed to make a connection with Rebecca so that she let him go.

Tensen then hired a cabbie, Arnie, to take him to Los Angeles so he could confront Damon Conquest, who was the man behind the Factory. He paid for the cab with money he took from some small-time drugrunners.

War of Conquest

Justice and Arnie stopped at a rest stop in Oklahoma, where he confronted and joined up with Rebecca Chambers and Hoyt Pittman, the Justice agents who had been tailing him. Darquill sent his agent, Tattoo, after them. Tattoo “infected” Pittman with a serpentine creature which later burst forth and killed him, and then attacked Justice.

Tensen was forced to generate the sword with his left hand when the creature bit onto his right hand. He blew off his own right hand in the process. They returned to the rest stop and found everyone there dead, and they failed to stop Tattoo from escaping.

Justice recovered from his injuries, regrowing his right hand. He then went to LA and confronted Damon Conquest. During the course of the battle, he began switching back and forth between reality and the Far Place. He was reunited with Endolana, but their affair was discovered by King Therion.

However, he continue to switch back and forth between realms, enabling him to dodge attacks from Conquest and Therion. He succeeded in defeating both, although Conquest escaped.

Closing in

On the Mexican Day of the Dead, Justice and Rebecca had Arnie drop them off in Baja, and began to head towards Darquill’s estate. Two bribed policement tried to bring them in, but Justice incinerated one, and Becky shot the other. They were then attacked by Tattoo, but by working together they were able to drive him off.

Eventually they made their way to Darquill. The drug lord transformed into a giant creature and attacked Justice when he refused his offer to join him. Darquill proved immune to Justice’s power, but Tensen then attacked Damon, forcing Darquill into a stalemate.

However, Tattoo then grabbed Becky, and they, Darquill, and Conquest all passed through a portal into the Far Place. Within that realm, Darquill revealed his plans to convert her to his side.

Manhattan massacre

Back in Manhattan, Justice found and rescued a young girl, Sara, who had been fed drugs by a street gang. He used his powers to heal her, but when he took her out to get something to eat, the gang members managed to capture her again. The gang members killed her before Justice could stop them, and so he killed them—all except one, whom he took as an informant.

After learning of the drug dealer’s source, Justice killed him. He then tracked down the Villalobos organization and slaughtered them.

Justice was approached by agents of the Justice Department for questioning on the murder of Rebecca Chambers. Justice was thrown in jail. But he quickly rose to the top of the pecking order, both among the guards and the other prisoners.

Justice met his lawyer, Danielle Towson, who was actually another agent of Tattoo’s. Tensen recognized Conquest’s aura on her, but decided to play along initially.

Meanwhile, Tattoo had altered a female corpse to appear to be Rebecca Chambers, and framed Justice as the murderer. Danielle had Tensen’s bail arranged, and then tried to seduce him. However, when Justice heard the news about the recovery of Rebecca’s body, he took off.

Worlds of fantasy

Justice tracked Leon Crisp, a serial killer. He temporarily became ill and lost the use of his sword, but bought a gun and shot and killed Crisp.

Darquill apparently transported Justice to the desert, where he was attacked by Klane, Black Justice. As Darquill had planned, Klane manipulated Tensen into killing him in rage, seemingly corrupting his aura. Darquill and Conquest’s agents drew the energy of this corruption into the Far Place. There they enhanced the powers of their Night Warriors, preparing them for the conquest of the Land of Spring.

Justice, still wandering the desert, was confronted by the badly injured Webstral, who told him of the slaughter of the Land of Spring. Webstral channeled the last of his life force into Tensen, rejuvenating him.

Justice made his way back into town, where he killed some Hounds who attacked him. After killing some drug dealers, he found his purpose once again clarified.

Los Angeles

Justice assisted FBI agent Kurtz (despite his wishes) in tracking down and terminating a group of criminals who had slaughtered everyone in a fast food restaurant.

After several months in Los Angeles, Justice posed as the bodyguard of Reggie Wyschoff, the owner of the club Razzle. Damon Conquest sent his agent, Max, to kill Andrew Markham for refusing to distribute their drugs. Max killed Markham at one of Wyschoff’s parties, after which Justice attacked him.

Justice managed to determine Max’s weakness and destroy him. He then convinced Markham’s son, Peter, to give up his own drug habit.

Back in the southwest, Justice broke up a child pornography ring, killing member Eric Sloan in the process, but was bitten by a rattlesnake. He recovered from the venom, but it disrupted the use of his aura-reading ability. He got involved with a group trying to prevent the further development of Glen Canyon.

Tensen had a hard time trying to determine who was in the right in this situation. The group trying to set explosives for the construction crew, or the police trying to stop them. Ultimately, the group was killed fighting the authorities, and Tensen’s abilities returned in time to prevent him from killing the police officer, whose aura was pure.

Hallucinating within a hallucination

Justice began to have vision’s of his past life, making him question his memories. He sought aid from Nightmask in Washington, DC. While Justice was sleeping, as part of Nightmask’s therapy, Darquill sent Rebecca Chambers to kill him. However, Justice awoke in time to stop her, and she was killed when his shield reflected her bullets.

Then Darquill sent his agent Malakite and some Hounds after him, but Justice vaulted over them and through the portal into the Land of Spring.

There he fought and slew Damon Conquest, before attacking Darquill himself. Again, his powers were useless against Darquill, who blasted him out of existence—or perhaps, more accurately, into existence. Tensen returned to reality alongside Nightmask outside of Darquill’s estate in Baja, California.

It’s all in the mind

Nightmask explained to Justice that the Far Place was only a creation of Darquill’s mind. Rather than risk getting caught up in Darquill’s dream again, Tensen killed him in his sleep—terminating the reality of the Far Place, and restoring Tensen to his true appearance.

In order to prevent himself from ever being mentally manipulated by another, Justice spent about a month with Nightmask, learning mental discipline.

Tensen, now back in reality, but still lacking memory of his true past, went on a spree. He killed a series of paranormal criminals: Greg Gardner, Malcolm Stokes, and Lonnie Pool. This earned him the name, the Justice Killer, since he drew a scale of justice in their ashes.

A post-cognitive paranormal, Playback, investigated the murders. Justice gave her a warning to not abuse her powers. Nevertheless, a composite sketch described by Playback was shown on the news. This revealed Tensen’s survival and current existence to his daughter, Angie, and to his former superior, Terrence Updike.

Tensen slew another paranormal who had been abusing his powers, Eric Quinn. However, Quinn’s power enabled him to transfer his own mind into Tensen’s body before dying.

While Quinn’s mind took over control of Justice’s form a few times, Quinn eventually faded from existence.

The Pitt

Justice located Glen Baker, a paranormal precognitive, who was using his powers for his own benefit. Justice attempted to warn him to use his powers to help others. But, as Baker predicted to him, they were both suddenly caught up in a powerful backwash of winds caused by the nearby explosion that created the Pitt.

Justice managed to save a nearby toddler, though she was deafened by the explosion. He placed the toddler with a middle-aged couple—Willie and Edna—whose children had been killed in the Pitt.

In search of the paranormal responsible for the Pitt, Justice traveled to Philadelphia. There he encountered Savior and the Millennias. Withholding his sword and shield power, Justice beat the Savior to the ground, and his disillusioned followers mobbed over him and beat him to death.

Tensen used the money which Savior had obtained illegally to serve as a trust which would pay his daughter, Angie’s, tuition.

Nightmask escaped from the mindscape of the “Nightmare Killer” by taking the form of Justice, which terrified the killer. Justice was pulled from a dream into the mindscape of the “Nightmare Killer,” a psychotic who killed others in their sleep. The killer toyed with him and then cast him out when he had proved himself immune to Justice’s power.

Captured again

Justice attended the Pitt-Aid concert. There, in an effort to stop a paranormal named James from harassing Angie, he ended up in a fight with Seraph, who had made it his mission to protect paranormals. Seraph’s scythe could overcome either of Justice’s weapons, but Tensen managed to choke him with miniature shields.

Just then, however, a stampede caused by people fleeing from the fighting paranormals threatened to trample Angie. Justice used all of his power to protect her, leaving himself open to the security guards, who beat him into submission

Aware of Tensen’s powers, the police kept him heavily sedated and in chains. The drugs interacted with the damage previously done by Darquill’s manipulations. As a result, Tensen believed he was back in the Far Place. Hallucinating that almost everyone he encountered was an agent of Darquill, he broke free from the prison and went on a rampage.

Neither police nor the military could bring down Justice, who destroyed their weapons and turned their firepower back on them. Finally Angie Tensen came forward and tried to reach him. Though she appeared to be a monstrous creature to him, Tensen recognized her voice and trusted his instincts. Her soothing voice brought him back to reality.

Restored

Back to his senses, Tensen agreed to work with the National Security Council, with liaison Terrence Updike. His first mission was to put a stop to the Justice Brigade (formerly the Millennias), who were using blow torches to kill the guilty, in the image of their idol.

Tensen located one of their agents and followed them back to their base. Once there he tried to put an end to their mission by telling them that the Justice Brigade must cease to exist. Not realizing they would take him quite so literally, he was surprised when the building blew up seconds after he had left.

The deaths of all the misguided souls, and most especially a young boy, the son of a member, shook his belief in his mission.

The NSC sent Justice to Duncanville, Texas, to investigate a paranormal ex-con named Dennis Foley. As the town prepared to lynch Rabinowitz for his former crimes, Tensen and he made a plan whereby Rabinowitz came across as a hero by fighting him off when Justice seemingly tried to convince him to destroy the town.

Psi-Force

Justice felt great psychic pain when Rodstvow destroyed Psi-Hawk, not fully realizing that Angie had been nearly crushed while they two had fought in the sky above her.

Tensen told the NSC that Foley had turned out not to be a paranormal after all. Meanwhile, the Forsaken (allies of Seraph) sent the assassin Quill to exterminate Justice. Tensen narrowly escaped death when another paranormal, Creeping Crud, stepped into the path of Quill’s sniper fire. Quill escaped Justice.

While Justice and Playback followed Quill’s trail—which ended in failure, Quill abducted Angie Tensen.

Justice followed Quill’s orders to try and get Angie back. But Quill became enamored of Angie and tried to force himself on her. She fled into a graveyard, where her own paranormal powers—the ability to animate the dead—first made themselves apparent, and an army of corpses slew Quill.

Angie was left in a deep state of shock after the recent events, and Justice blamed himself. Seeing his failure to go after and kill Rodstvow and Psi-Hawk as his crime, and Angie’s trauma as God’s punishment, he made plans to correct his previous failure.

Via Updike’s connection with the Medusa Web, Justice embarked on a trip to Siberia, to aid the Web to rescue Psi-Force and fight against Rodstvow.

Take Siberia

With the Medusa Web, Justice invaded the Siberian Project, freeing Psi-Force. Justice’s shields protected Skybreaker from hostile fire, allowing him to plow through a squadron of Russian soldiers unharmed.

The Medusa Web’s helicopter was shot down as they tried to flee. Together with they and Psi-Force, Justice fought against Red Sun, the paranormals of the Siberian Project. He was clawed across the face by Shivowtnoeh, but then stopped Thomas Boyd from beating the nearly mindless beast to death.

When the members of the Project fled, the Web tried to load up another chopper and take off again. But Justice resisted, wanting to confront Rodstvow. Be careful what you wish for…Rodstvow then appeared above them, planning to kill them all.

Linked through the mind of Wayne Tucker of Psi-Force, the rest of that group, Red Sun, the Medusa Web, and Justice combined forces against Rodstvow. Justice’s sword was one of the powers that damaged the powerful Russian’s containment armor, and his shields helped to pry open that rent, destroying the armor.

Justice’s power, along with that of telekinetic Kathy Ling and pyrokinetic Johnny Do helped to destroy the remaining skeleton of Rodstvow, slaying him at last.

Avenging Angie (supposedly)

Too late, post-cognitive Lindsey Falmon got a flash of Justice’s intentions. As the group prepared to return home, Justice blasted Tucker from behind and announced his plans to slay the members of Psi-Force to fulfill his promise to Angie.

Justice managed to establish a psychic link with the members of Psi-Force. His previous training from Nightmask allowed him to control the situation, and he swiftly had the team of psis at his mercy. He placed them on trial and was prepared to execute them, when Lindsey Falmon told him that he was dead on the inside.

Shaken by what she’d say, Tensen released Psi-Force and headed back to the US.

Returning to the US, Tensen took a LONG nap to regain his wits. He then went out to rescue some of the NSC’s other agents who had been captured by the Forsaken. Unbeknownst to him, Angie, having recovered completely, joined Justice on his flight out there.

We are Forsaken

Justice and Angie traveled out to Coney Island, where they made their way into the Terminus, the base of the Forsaken. Wishing to meet the leader of the outfit, Justice allowed himself and Angie to be brought before Judge Mental.

As the leader of the Forsaken bragged of his projecting telepath powers, Justice realized that he couldn’t simply read minds. Thus, he didn’t know that he had a gun in his pocket, until Justice shot him through the heart, killing him. Justice then led Seraph to the top of a Ferris Wheel and knocked him off, causing him to fall to his death.

Meanwhile, the NSC headquarters had been blow up by another member of the Forsaken, Impact. Justice, along with Angie and her boyfriend Victor (aka Kleenix), Shudderbug, and possibly Playback, stayed in the Terminus. As Justice Tensen, he presided over all disputes and provided guidance as the new leader of the Forsaken.

Description

Originally, Justice was drawn as designed by Walt Simonson, much more super-heroic than the other, more realistic denizens of the New Universe. He was nearly six and a half feet tall, wore white pants and knee-high brown boots of an odd design, with a loose-fitting light blue shirt with a lightning design across the chest.

Over all this he wore a heavy brown overcoat with padded shoulders, and occasionally wraparound goggles. In this version his hair was short and spikey in the front and long in the back.

When he rediscovered his identity in the real world, Tensen actually seemed to change appearance. It was as if his previous look had always been part of Darquill’s delusion. Now he was more heavily built, not quite so tall and lanky, and his hair was a more realistic short military style.

In his new mission as Justice, he wore dark blue trousers and boots (real boots, not the weird ones he had been), a black t-shirt with a “Captain Marvel” style lightning emblem on the chest, and a deep purple long trenchcoat.

Personality

As the lone warrior of a different dimension, Justice often had difficulty understanding what he perceived as the differences between the way he thought things should be and the way he found things. This may be chalked up to Tensen’s subconcious giving him cues as to how he felt things “ought to be”, by his own (admittedly Conservative) views of how the world should work.

As this version of Justice, Tensen sees the world in terms of black and white. He would not hesitate to eliminate whatever or whoever he saw as being on the other side.

As the real Tensen, Justice still espoused a fairly simplistic worldview. But he eventually came to feel that using his power to protect and to guide was more a more significant contribution to True Justice than bringing simple vengeance.

Quotes

“The place is alien… My purpose is not. I am Justice.”

Justice: “You must use your powers in the proper way. As must all paranormals. As must I. If using your powers in the proper way means cooperating with police to thwart my efforts, then that is the way it must be.”
Playback: “And who decides what the ’proper way‘ is?”
Justice: “I do.”

“Police can be compromised. I cannot. I am Justice, and I see the evil in your souls… it cries out for punishment!” (disintegrates thugs)

(To a little girl he’s just saved)
“I won’t hurt you… you’re an innocent. Although… yes. Your aura indicates a possibility of paranormal powers to come. But don’t worry. You’ve done nothing to warrant a sentence from Justice… Yet.”

DC Universe History

Justice is such a unique character he really deserves to be left as-is rather than replacing any particular character in DCU history. Make him a GM’s foil, a threatening figure that may turn up anywhere that supers are abusing their powers, and you have the perfect tool to keep unruly, munchkinny  players in line.

His power is already vast, making him a threat to nearly any mid-level super, but those powers could easily be boosted at need to make him a really frightening possibility to run into.

By Pufnstuff.

Helper(s): Dr. Peter S. Piispanen (additional quotes), Roy Cowan (wikipedia article), firebomb’s New Universe website, technohol.com, marvunapp.com  for the (edited) History.

Source of Character: Marvel Comics’ New Universe series of books, circa 1986-90, Primarily Justice #1-32. Unlike most of the other NewU chrs, Justice made a number of appearances in the mainstream Marvel Universe, during its 2099 line, where he was known as the Cyber Prophet. This writeup does not cover that period of his History.