Until he was 24 years old, Nicholas Scratch was a loser. Although his I.Q tested high, no one knew he was intelligent because he was, from earliest childhood, over-weight, clumsy, cowardly and timid. In college, he majored in astronomy because the study of stars allowed him to be isolated for long hours. It all changed, he claims, in a single instant. He was peering through a telescope when a particle of light from a distant solar system struck his eye. He says the particle contained an encoded program, which altered his mind and body. Within a year, the shy, stumbling, tone-deaf Scratch was the most popular and richest rock star in the country, and within two, the confidant of some of the world’s most powerful men. His greatest gift, everyone said, was his trustworthiness; people immediately believed anything he told them, regardless of how unlikely it might be. Soon, he was not satisfied with being the advisor of movers and shakers; he wanted power for himself. He began to assemble a cadre of assistants; some of these he genetically and surgically altered to resemble devils. Scratch decided that Gotham City would be his first base of operations. After the earthquake that decimated Gotham City, Scratch persuaded government officials to quarantine the area. Scratch then hoped to take control of the city.
