Bowman

[J.T.]

Ok here's another character background for you all to read. No stats (I'm too slow at statting characters I know).


J.T.

BOWMAN
Martin Frazer had it all great life, beautiful house, fast car and fantastic job. Interested in electronics from and early age it was no surprise to either his family or friends that one day he would be at the top of his field and living the high life.
Martin’s only problem was his recklessness, He worked hard and played even harder. He couldn’t keep a girlfriend as he got bored easily and would end up in the bed of the next girl to show him interest. This recklessness spread to his other passion, anything and everything fast. His motor bike was top of the range, his car was the best on the market, his boat the fastest on the water.
Many weekends he would be out in one or the other speeding through the countryside or across some lake. His friends loved him for all his faults but feared for his safety, as he got more and more reckless the faster he went.

All this came crashing down, literally, one summers day when he took a turning too fast in the mountains of Italy, swerving to miss an oncoming bus his car jumped the siding and before anything could be done went sailing out into fresh air.
The car struck earth 60 feet below and it was a miracle that it didn’t explode. It took fire fighters 5 hours to free him, only being able to do so when the emergency doctor at the scene took the decision to remove his trapped legs below the knees.
The fire fighters later said that if it wasn’t for the fact the car had the best role cage fitted, Martin would have died on impact.

It took nearly a year after the crash for Martin to be well enough to be allowed home. A few months later he started his rehabilitation and training in the use of a pair of artificial legs. Martin hated them, he hated life, he hated his family and he hated his friends, but most of all he hated himself. The accident made him grow up fast and realise what a total selfish bastard he was but the situation he now found himself in also pushed him into depression and he refused to see anyone locking himself away from public life.

It was on one of the many and unsuccessful visits by his councillor to get him to start using his artificial legs that they started talking about other avenues of exercise. His councillor suggested that if Martin was adamant on not using the legs he would have to increase his upper body to compensate for the loss of his legs. Apart from lifting weights he suggested Martin come with him to the local archery club he belonged to. There were a number of wheelchair bound people there who had taken up the sport to strengthen their arms, one was even an Olympic champion.

It took another 6 months of gentle persuasion from his councillor but eventually he agreed, if only to shut the guy up. The following Saturday Jake (his councillor) picked Martin up and they set off to the club.
Once there one of the coaches measured Martin up for a bow. He then went through the rules of the club and the target range. After a few false starts it soon became apparent that Martin was actually quite good at it. He even started to enjoy himself for the first time since the accident, but of course he kept that to himself.
The following Saturday they went again and before long it had become a regular thing. With this new found interest Martin also started to come out of his depression and look at other challenges. Soon he was driving again, though this time it was a smart estate car adapted for his needs. He also started going back into his workshop at home and tinker with electronic circuits.
This tinkering soon developed into an obsession to create simple devices to improve his standard of living. Then one day he sat down and realised the only why he could improve his life was to be able to walk again. Thus started his secret project, to design and build a pair of legs that would allow him to walk again.
Two years later he succeeded in doing just that. Though he was unsure about telling anyone just yet. That Saturday he went off to archery as usual. He had become very proficient at the sport and was training for selection for the next Olympic squad.
Returning home after a gruelling session he entered the house only to be confronted by two men. One grabbed him and overturned his chair kicking and laughing at him, calling him cripple and demanding where his money was. Slightly dazed he told them where the safe was and the combination to it. Beleiving the cripple couldn’t do anything to harm them they left him in the hall and went searching for the safe.
Getting his senses back Martin pulled himself up into a sitting position at the bottom of the stairs and after some effort retrieved his archery bag that he had dropped in the first few second of the attack. Deciding there and then that what ever happened he was not a cripple and he would not be treated as one. The anger he had bottled up since the accident came flooding back but this time instead of being rash and reckless he was calm and controlled. Quickly and quietly he strung his bow and laid out four arrows along the step beside him. Taking one of them he loaded the bow and waited with the arrow trained on the door in front of him.
As the men came back into the hall Martin challenged them.

“Stop where you are or I’ll fire.” He shouted raising the bow level with the closest of the two.

“Don’t make me laugh you cripple. Put that down before ewe make you sorry” replied the leader of the two before stepping towards Martin.

“ I warn you I will fire.”

End part 1

[J.T.]

Part 2

Laughing in his face the thug went for him. Everything then happened very quickly. The thug made a grab for Martin, reacting from pure reflex Martin’s finger slipped of the string. Next the thug is staggering back a look of total surprise and disbelieve on his face. Looking down he grabs the arrow protruding from his stomach.
Seeing movement behind the first thug, Martin reacts on instinct, within seconds a second arrow is notched and let loose to find its mark in the fleshy area of the second thugs upper left leg. With a scream he falls roles and reaches for something in his pocket.
As if in slow motion the thugs brings up a gun and swings it towards Martin. As the hand moved so did Martin a third arrow was notched, the gun comes up, the arrow is loosened, the gun is levelled the arrow hits its target and buries itself up to a third of its length into the barrel of the gun. Still moving Martin falls forward twisting as he does so to end up on his back, already the fourth arrow is notched and as he hits the hall floor the arrow is driven through the thugs gun hand. The thug screams again and drops the gun. All is quiet.

What seems like hours pass before Martin looks up. Before him is the first thug sat with his back against the wall, holding the arrow protruding from his body slowly being surrounded by a pool of blood. The second thug is on his knees, on leg out at an angle with an arrow through his thigh cradling his gun hand still with the fourth arrow embedded in it..

Pulling himself back up into a sitting position Martin realises he still has his mobile in his pocket. Quickly he phone the police and dragging himself back to the stairs retrieve another arrow and covers the two thugs until help arrives.

Jake was first to visit him the following day. It was all in the news papers, Local disabled man fights back, Two criminals in custody. But Martin wasn’t interested he didn’t want to be pitied or respected, as he explained to Jake he was protecting his life. At that moment in that situation he suddenly realised he wanted to live and no one was going to jeopardise that. When he finally managed to persuaded Jake he was fine and to go home, Martin went into his workshop and picking up his invention strapped on his new legs. Standing for the first time in years Martin took his first faltering steps. The next few months saw Martin become efficient in their use and soon he was running round the house like a spring lamb. Still he did not confide his creation with any one, for some reason this was the other Martin Frazer the one who could walk and jump and kick a ball, he didn’t want reality to burst his bubble so he continued to keep it secret.

The summer he got a place on the Olympic team and training started in earnest. One night after a hard day on the target range, Martin sat in bed with a glass of wine and thought back over the events of the break in. He realised that while it was happening he had disconnected himself from the actual events and had acted on pure reflex and instinct. In though few seconds he had known the arrow would go into the barrel of the gun knew the next arrow would hit the thugs hand, it was as if he had seen it all before hand and knew each arrow would hit its target and that as soon as he had let go he was moving onto the next safe in the instinctive knowledge that each arrow couldn’t miss.
He also admitted to himself that in those split second he had felt more alive than he had done since the accident, probably more alive then he had ever felt driving fast cars.

Early the next morning Martin is back in his workshop this time he is sketching up the design a light collapsible bow with electronic circuitry controlling its operation. Once it was built and tested Martin went back to his legs and altered and improved them. He developed circuitry that would allow him to run at greater speed and jump higher than normal. He developed a skin tight body armour that could deflect bullets and 18 months later he ventured out onto the city streets to fight crime to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves, and to thrill in the hunt.
Soon the press had dubbed him Bowman and called him the best shot in the world.

Martin realised that soon the people would start looking at the archery community to see if they could find a face to the hero knowing this would be dangerous to his family and friends he decided that he would remain wheelchair bound, who would expect a cripple of being able to run and jump like this incredible Bowman. So now Martin Frazer lives two lives on a successful electronics expert and Olympic champion the other the arrow shooting dark avenger BOWMAN.

[Jerry D. Grayson]

Nice,

Would you like to use him in the Battle Royal?

[J.T.]

That had crossed my mind. If I get time over the weekend I'll try statting him up. If not I'll get something done by the end of next week.

J.T.