Reprise was an enemy of Hardware.
History
Reprise was one of the world's most feared hit men since he could eliminate the most elusive or well-defended targets. Due to his success rate, clients ranging from crime bosses to subversive organizations are willing to pay his exorbitant fees. Another benefit of his abilities is personal security since he often sends duplicates in his place to deal with particularly dangerous opponents and even clients. This modus operandi also has made it impossible for authorities to accurately determine Reprise's base of operations. Despite his cold-blooded reputation, Reprise has displayed a strange code of honor that factors into which jobs he takes.[1]
The first client Reprise failed was Edwin Alva, the notorious international crimelord and owner of Alva Technologies. Alva hired the assassin to kill Hardware, an armored vigilante who was inflicting severe damage to his criminal operations in Dakota.[2] The industrialist leaked out word of the illegal weapons stored in an Alva Technologies warehouse for paper products. There Reprise would ambush and eliminate Hardware, who could not resist such a golden opportunity to hurt Alva. Hardware took the bait and defeated the warehouse's security guards, at which point an impressed Reprise revealed himself.[3] The assassin then split himself into dozens of duplicates who blocked all the exits while unleashing a relentless onslaught against Hardware. Though Hardware slew several Reprise duplicates, the vigilante was still hopelessly outnumbered by the remaining clones and was soon badly injured.[2] As the Reprises closed in for the kill, Hardware was rescued by his flying car, Skylark, that he had summoned by remote. Before his escape, Hardware fired one last shot that detonated the illegal weapons in the warehouse, destroying it along with the Reprise duplicates.[2]
The original Reprise was safely elsewhere when Hardware defeated his copies. Via handwritten note, the hitman was next hired by a White supremacist to assassinate famed African American lecturer, Johnson Stroman, before he could publish his book on race relations, Tribes. Reprise determined that Stroman would be most vulnerable at an African American Studies conference in Jamaica, where he was lecturing.[4]
Initially, Reprise's plan went perfectly as he assassinated Stroman and then used the ensuing chaos to find and destroy all copies of Tribes.[4] Reprise wished to ensure that the lecturer's ideas would die with him. However, neither Reprise nor his duplicates could find Stroman's original manuscript. The hit man then learned that Stroman's colleague, Barraki Young, was also at the conference and correctly deduced that she had the manuscript.[4]
Reprise located Barraki Young along with her boyfriend, Curtis Metcalf, at a local beach.[4] Reprise threatened to kill Young if she did not hand over the manuscript, but the hit man was overpowered by Metcalf who was secretly Hardware. Undeterred, Reprise created an army of duplicates, forcing Young and Metcalf to flee.[1] The couple then split up with Metcalf, manuscript in hand, serving as a decoy while Barraki Young escaped by jet ski.
However, Reprise anticipated this and had several duplicates intercept Barraki at the couple's rendezvous point. The Reprise copies informed an arriving Metcalf that Barraki would be released uninjured if he surrendered the manuscript. Having no other choice, Metcalf gave the book to Reprise, who was shocked that it was written in the same style as the White supremacist who hired him. In short, Stroman had ordered a hit on himself.
Barraki then explained to Reprise that Stroman's actions were motivated by his belief that the ideas of martyrs were more respected that those of the living. Moved by the strength of Stroman's convictions, Reprise returned the manuscript to a surprised Barraki Young so it could be published. The assassin and his duplicates then left without further incident.[1]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Bio-Fission: Reprise has the ability to create identical physical duplicates of himself at will. He can only bring into being one duplicate at a time,[3] but they have the same powers as the original. Each of Reprise's copies can duplicate himself as well.[2]
- Matter Duplication: Reprise can also duplicate inanimate objects that are in physical contact with him while using his power.[3] Hence, if he is holding a gun, then every duplicate he spawns will be similarly armed.[2]
Abilities
Trivia
- The name of Reprise's victim, Johnson Stroman, is a nod to Todd Johnson and Larry Stroman, creators of the comic book, Tribe. Tribe debuted around the same time as Milestone Media and became the top-selling Black-owned comic book series in history.
Related
- 6 Appearances of Reprise (Dakotaverse)
- 2 Images featuring Reprise (Dakotaverse)
- Quotations by or about Reprise (Dakotaverse)
- Character Gallery: Reprise (Dakotaverse)
Footnotes
