Doctor Mid-Nite
Doctor Mid-Nite
Benedict Cumberbatch
Name: Doctor Pieter Anton Cross
Gender: Male
Place of Birth: Sogndal, Norway
Age: 34
Aliases: Doctor Cross, Lace Blackwell
Origin: Latent Metahuman
Present Location: Gotham
Occupation: Physician/Vigilante
Team: Outsiders
Alignment: Neutral Good
Significant Other(s): N/Z
Powers and Abilities: Perfect Night-Vision/Enhanced Physique
Portrayed by: Benedict Cumberbatch

Beginnings

Born in Sogndal, Norway, though raised in Portsmouth, Oregon, Cross grew up being mentored by the masked vigilante (and former physician) Doctor Mid-Nite — due to the fact that Mid-Nite had saved Cross’ own mother, just as Cross was born. Pieter idolised Doctor Mid-Nite (whose real name was Charles McNider), as both doctor and vigilante, all throughout his life.

Cross became a highly talented doctor, however, despite his skill he frequently got into trouble with the law — mostly for sticking his nose where it was not wanted, in order to ‘do good’. He also trained regularly in fitness and hand-to-hand combat just so he could tackle Portsmouth’s underworld more effectively, whilst giving medical care to the needy. Given a certain, rare skin condition, he only ‘consulted’ at night.

People called him the ‘Midnight Doctor’.

Turning Point

In the year that San Diego fell into the ocean, everything changed for Cross. Investigating a drug-ring (on his own) in Portsmouth, regarding a new steroid known as Decahydrabolin (or, on the street — A39), Cross was caught and dosed with an extremely high concentration of the experimental drug. He suffered a car accident as he fled, and lost his sight — but the drug triggered latent genes in him, revealing his metahuman heritage.

Weeks after the accident, Cross was attacked one night by a young owl, and he angrily removed the bandages over his eyes. He discovered, to his astonishment, he could ‘see darkness’ (i.e. he described the moon as an inky-black disc in the night sky, but everything else remained ‘clear as day’). It was almost as if he had gained ‘negative vision’. There was more to it than that, and Cross also found he could see in all the lower-level spectra (normally invisible to the human eye, such as infrared and microwave), and the A39 steroid also enhanced his stamina, agility and strength to that of a superior athlete. Normal light, however, blinded him.

Cross was forced to give up his medical license in order to hide the secret of his new ‘super-vision’.

A New Path

To preserve his identity as ‘Doctor Mid-Nite’, Cross changed his ‘day-job’ to that of writer (like his predecessor), assisted by Camilla Marlowe (a woman he had helped previously), who typed as he dictated. More than this, however, Cross returned to the streets at night. Inspired by McNider — and, in part, by the rumours of Gotham’s ‘Batman’ — Cross put his genius to use and designed goggles that allowed him to see (after a fashion) in daylight, which also augmented his ‘negative vision’ with embedded diagnostic software, and ultrasonic lenses. He trained the owl (naming him ‘Charles’) and created a number of useful gadgets to further aid him. Cross took his Hippocratic Oath very seriously, and designed his tools to be non-lethal, just as his fighting style was. Properly costumed and cowled, Doctor Mid-Nite (the second) took to the streets as a vigilante.

It has now been several years since Mid-Nite donned the cowl, and now (along with Marlowe), he plans to leave Portsmouth City, and move to Gotham, believing it is where he can do the most good. He intends to continue writing as a columnist (when not crime-fighting) and took the pseudonym ‘Lace Blackwell’ (based on two female doctors) for his articles.

IC Events

Doctor Mid-Nite's Logs

(2014-09-05) The Outsiders
The Champs of NYC Summary: Doc Mid-Nite and Captain Atom round up Villains, Gorilla Grodd,...


(2014-06-30) Aiming at AIM - The Madripoor Mission
Aiming at AIM - The Madripoor Mission Summary: The Justice League has tracked the AIM sale of...


(2014-06-29) Spectral and the Doctor
title: 'Spectral and the Doctor' summary: 'A power-outage in Old Gotham has looters out, and a lone...


(2014-06-28) Watery Touch-Down
title: 'Watery Touch-Down' summary: 'Rom makes his first appearance as he ''touches down'' in the...


(2014-06-27) Seeing in the Dark
Seeing in the Dark Summary: Dr Mid-Nite and Blackout meet in a dark alleyway in the darkness...

Gallery

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