Real Name: Dr. Pietr Anton Cross
Occupation: Crime-fighter, avant-garde medical researcher and physician
Base of Operations: Varied (Resident of Portsmouth City)
Marital Status: Single
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 175 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black, graying at temples
HISTORY
A prodigy who obtained his medical degree while still in his teens,
Pietr Cross was a gifted surgeon whose work within the system led him
outside of established medical circles. As the "Midnight Doctor", Pietr
used his great wealth, talent, and formidable network of contacts to
provide healthcare for a wide range of patients whom orthodox medicine had
failed.
While investigating the influx of a new and dangerous mutagenic
steroid, Dr. Cross was surreptitiously given the drug, which interacted with
other chemicals in the doctor's bloodstream. When an explosion robbed
him of his eyesight, Dr. Cross found that the chemicals in his system
still allowed his eyes to see in the infrared spectrum. Special goggles
of his own creation augmented his remaining sight to the visible
spectrum.
Borrowing the identity of a blind costumed adventurer from the 40's,
the new "Doctor Mid-Nite" dedicated himself to protecting the downtrodden
of his city from a continuing series of deadly schemes by the insidious
Praeda Industries.
Around the turn of the millennium, Dr. Mid-nite joined the Justice
Society and despite some initial difficulties adjusting to the team, soon
became a steady member serving through a variety of cases and crises.
Mid-nite's experience with the JSA helped to define him as a hero and he
remained a loyal compatriot and friend to fellow teammates over the
years.
RECENT HISTORY
In 2007, Cross took a leave of absence from the team to deal with
personal affairs and take a rest from crime-fighting while focusing on his
medical career. During this time he debated whether or not the
superhero lifestyle was one that he wished to continue pursuing or whether
practicing his medical skills would be of greater use to the world and his
own personal happiness. Before reaching a clear decision on this
dilemma, he found himself propelled back into the role of Dr. Mid-nite by
events in Portsmouth City. A series of bizarre murders baffling the
local authorities led him to take to the streets again and uncover the
culprit, a murderous meta-human by the name of Nebulon (Nebulon later took
the name of the Cloud (II), an old foe of the original Dr. Mid-nite, in
honor of his vendetta against the hero. He returned several times to
plague Mid-nite in the future. Cloud II is currently thought to be
deceased however). This period also saw the collapse of Praeda Industries,
partly through a joint effort by Mid-nite and Green Arrow I to shutdown
the activities of the corrupt corporation.
In 2008, still on leave, Dr. Mid-nite was asked to assist a scientific
exploration team led by aged spelunker Cave Carson into a strange
series of elaborate subterranean tunnels unearthed in the Congo. Among the
team were also heroes Janu (former sidekick of the now deceased Congo
Bill), Dr. Light II, the Ray, Crimson Avenger, and Lady Blackhawk
(constituting a new Forgotten Heroes). The expedition ended in disaster when
the researchers discovered that the tunnels had been used as a burial
ground by an ancient race that dated further back than even Sumerian,
Indus, or Atlantean civilization. Accidentally unearthing an ancient
magical curse, they unintentionally raised the hitherto dead from their
resting place. Most of the science team was killed in the chaos that
followed and the situation threatened to spill out onto the surface world.
The Forgotten Heroes helped the survivors evacuate and Cave Carson
sacrificed himself by returning to the tunnel to detonate a powerful
explosive inside, reburying the deadly site he had unwittingly opened. After
this the remaining Forgotten Heroes disbanded although Dr. Mid-nite
remained in contact with Dr. Light II and they retained an on and off
affair over the years.
The question of his remaining part of the superhero community seemingly
answered for him, Dr. Mid-nite rejoined the JSA in 2009 and remained
with the group until their breakup. During the intervening years, Cross
followed most of his compatriots in giving up his vigilante mantle and
pursuing a normal life. Around this time his relationship with Dr.
Light II became more serious, although both agreed marriage and children
was not something they were interested in. In 2013 Cross gained
national fame as one of the head researchers on the team that developed an
effective technique to prevent and reverse most forms of dangerous cancer.
Cross wrote a book on the experience and toured the country, for a
short time becoming a well-known advocate for avant-garde medical research,
often championing causes opposed by the LDS on religious grounds.
In 2015 Dr. Mid-nite joined the reformed JSA and again took a permanent
role on the team. Around the same time, he saved the life of a young
teenager (Fatima Amin) seriously injured in a terrorist bombing by the
Kobra Cult. Bringing her back from the brink of death through the use
of nano-technology, Fatima became a staunch admirer of Mid-nite and
pestered him to take her on as student so she could help prevent things
like the event that injured her (and killed her family). Among her other
injuries Fatima suffered severe and currently incurable eye damage,
similar to Cross's own experience. Sympathetic with Fatima, although
reluctant to encourage her, he agreed to train her as long as she continued
to attend school. Fatima agreed. Although she has remained
uninterested in the medical sciences, she retains a passion for psychology
(particularly criminal psychology). She occasionally assists Dr. Mid-nite as
Nite-owl.
Dr. Mid-nite currently remains a core member of the JSA, effectively
juggling his time on the team between his other concerns.
POWERS/WEAKNESSES
Cross is a talented physician and a master of three martial arts
disciplines. Although his eyesight was cured in 2010 through cloning
procedures (which had since advanced to a level of competence that he no
longer doubted their usage) he continues to wear his goggles. They contain
a variety of special functions, not the least of which is the ability
to see clearly while using his blackout bombs, a perfected form of the
original Dr. Mid-nite's weapon of choice.
