Freebooter

History

In the near future of an alternate universe of Earth-982, Brandon Cross was a young student of Hawkeye and the Swordsman and trained under them for several years after the terrible conflict that saw most of the Avengers killed and permanently blinded the Master Marksman. Shortly after a new incarnation of the Avengers known as A-Next was formed, Brandon adopted a purple and black costume similar to his instructors as the rougish ladies' man and weapons master Freebooter.

One of the Founders of A-Next, Mainframe almost immediately sought to expand the team's membership and actively sought to recruit new members. Freebooter along with American Dream, Bluestreak, and the Crimson Curse were chosen as the newest recruits and were given the appellation of "The Dream Team". It was hinted that Freebooter and Crimson Curse were long time friends and might have been former lovers.

Freebooter immediately sought to romance his fellow A-Next member Stinger but she greatly resented that Mainframe had arbitrarily made Freebooter as a member of the team without even consulting them leading to his flirtatious attempts to be summarily shot down.

Despite the resentment of many of the original members, Freebooter's chivalrous nature and remarkable weapon skills led several members to admiring and respecting him, even Stinger reluctantly.

A-Next would find themselves facing the threat of Earth-9907 which the previous generation of Avengers had battled and many had been killed stopping the threat including Freebooter's mentor, Hawkeye who had lost his vision as a result and Crimson Curse also tragically lost her life battling this threat. The tragic loss shook the normally confident and free spirited Freebooter who became much more withdrawn and somber as a result and he dedicated himself towards fighting the forces of evil in her honor.

Freebooter was later badly injured in the line of duty against the threat of Galactus and convinced Sabreclaw, a member of the Revengers and an enemy to A-Next to help assist in the battle. Afterwards, he and Sabreclaw became friends and Freebooter suggested that he apply for membership with A-Next. Despite many members being suspicious of Sabreclaw, he proved himself during the battle against Ulik and Sylene, the daughter of Loki.

Freebooter would subsequently recover and return to active duty as a valued member of A-Next.

Powers & Abilities

Freebooter is a highly trained and proficient athlete. He is also an accomplished acrobat and is considered an expert marksman with ballistic weapons (specifically archery), a highly trained hand to hand combatant, and is highly trained in a number of weapons including swords and staffs.

Freebooter carries a collapsible crossbow on his person but his personal weapon of choice are a pair of metal alloy escrima sticks that he can combine into a bo staff.