Derek Powers
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Real Identity: Derek Powers
Appearances (BB): Rebirth Part One, Part Two, Blackout, Meltdown, Shriek and Ascension
Powers/Skills: Radiation and Business
Voiced By: Sherman Howard
Derek Powers comes from a family in big business. Powers became a corporate raider and used his company, Powers Technology, to conduct hostile takeovers. Now based in Gotham City, he began acquiring local industrial firms in a bid to take Wayne Enterprises. At first, Bruce Wayne was able to avert Powers' attempts. However, after Wayne retired as Batman and lost his spirit, Powers made a successful merger to create Wayne-Powers. Derek Powers became the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) while Wayne remained on the Board of Trustees. To further strengthen his position, Powers laid off Wayne loyalists, including Luscius Fox Jr., Vice President at the time.
About 20 years later, Powers was the undisputed financial czar in the business world and dominated the field. He continued with conducting hostile takeovers but secretly dabbled in illegal activity. Once such transaction was selling a new DNA mutagen to Kaznian regent, Vilmos Egan. With it, Egans would have a powerful nerve gas. One of the researchers, Harry Tully was exposed to the compound and slipped the project information to a co-worker and friend, Warren McGinnis. Both were murdered by Powers' assistant, Mr. Fixx to keep the gas a secret. Out of vengeance, McGinnis' son, Terry stole Bruce Wayne's Batsuit and attacked the mutagen transport in the Northeast sector of Wayne-Powers.
During the confrontation, Derek Powers was exposed to the nerve gas. He was treated with radiation to eradicate the virus. However, the mutational properties were corrupted by the radiation. Powers became a walking nuclear powerhouse. As a result, he would shed his skin periodically and would have to be fused with a skin-like polymold. Powers dedicated a small group of researchers to find a more permanent treatment while still running the company.
The US government put out a contract to build a new lunar base. Both Wayne-Powers and Foxteca, Luscius Fox Jr.'s company, were up for the bid. Powers hired the infamous saboteur Inque to attack several Foxteca facilities. When Batman became an issue, he contracted Inque to kill Batman and any of his partners. She failed. Within months, Powers' radiation emissions were getting stronger and his polyderm treatments would barely last a day. A new hire, Dr. Stephanie Lake proposed a bold plan to use Powers' baseline DNA to clone a new body and transfer his neural patterns. Mr. Freeze, whose head was kept in Wayne-Powers' custody, was volunteered to be the test subject. When Mr. Freeze began to revert, he was ordered to be killed. He escaped and returned intent on blowing up the compound. Freeze didn't count on Powers to have powers of his own and was fatally wounded. He used the last of his energy to blow Powers away. Powers referred to his alter-ego as Blight.
Derek Powers had long eyed the historical Park Row district for the site of a future industrial complex. During Board meetings, Bruce Wayne would make his appearance and convince his fellow trustees to vote down the purchase. Powers turned to one of his smaller acquired companies, Shreev Sound, for a solution. In exchange for bailing out his company, Powers forced Walter Shreev to use his accoustic technology to take out Bruce Wayne. Batman intervened and saved the district.
Unable to control his radiation, Powers summoned his exiled son from South America to be acting chairman of the board. During a meeting, protestors broke in and caused Powers to become agitated and manifest as Blight. He went on the run and hid aboard a nuclear submarine. Paxton Powers fooled Batman into helping him defeat Blight with a pinchcell. In the aftermath, the submarine suffered a reactor breach and died as it sunk. Paxton Powers was free to take over the company.