Born in Queens, New York, the son of a gun shop owner and distributor, Marcus grew up initially in abject poverty.  By the time he was 10, his father (mother died at child birth) suddenly came into money, where they were able to move into a very upscale apartment in downtown Manhattan.  By age 12, Marcus had become a highly proficient marksman in his own right, thanks to his father taking him out the the gun range five times a week.  While there at the gun range, he noticed that his father 'talked' to lots of people there, constantly handing them keys or packages.  Marcus later found out his father was dealing guns, rifles, machine guns and ammunition to several gangs and villainous groups, all under the table secretly.  At age 15, the Feds arrived at their Manhattan apartment and took his father into custody for illegal firearms dealing.  His father got a 30 year sentence. Marcus was placed into foster care, but that didn't last long...the Soltan Star Empire decided to invade Earth in 2000, making Marcus life a living Hell...a Hell he grew to love.

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During the invasion, Marcus' foster family was killed almost instantaneously.  Marcus was able to escape and went to the old gun club where there was enough weapons and ammuition to hold off any army...which is exactly what he did.  He went out daily, foraging for food, weapons, alien tech...whatever he could get his hands on, all the while killing at least 4 to 5 Soltans on the daily average. Human survivors of the invasion received no help from him...other than a bullet to their heads.  Marcus had no morality left; he was in survival mode.  Over those several months of the invasion, Marcus quickly learned that his skills were obviously perfect for being a mercenary or an assassin.  When the invasion was over, Marcus had quite the impressive collection of weapons and equipment, however, he wanted to keep 'frosty' and improve on his skills, ergo, he went to work.

 

Over the next few years, Marcus was able to get work as a hit-man for a variety of gangs, all of which usually got defeated or jailed rather quickly by super-heroes and/or local police.  Marcus' marksmanship skills grew exponentially during this time.  Eventually, he started working for the Solano crime family until he got shot during a gang war with the Marconi family. After that, he signed up with a multi-regional crime cartel known as CANIS, where for the next 5 years, he acted as a one of their Omega troops and rose to become a Tribune Lieutenant of the eastern United States faction code-named as "Wolf Pack". After a huge super-hero take down of the "Wolf Pack", Marcus was once again jobless.  During this time, he wandered cities and towns getting hired for random 'hit-man' type jobs...until one day he discovered the hideout of a defunct mercenary group once called "The Death Legion".

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While performing a contracted 'hit' on a local business man in Philadelphia, Marcus ran into an old man who was also contracted to perform a 'hit' on the same person.  The two fought, and in the end the old man won, but just barely.  The old man was once a Lieutenant in the now-defunct "Death Legion" mercenary guild, and as such, was considered to be a legendary assassin back in his day before super-groups invaded the old "Death's Door" HQ. The heroes shutdown the legion's operations, killing and/or jailing the nearly all of the legionnaires, with the exception of several mercs that escaped during the fight.  The old man was one of those that got away.  Regardless, the old man saw something in Marcus that reminded him of his younger self and began teaching Marcus how to be the best mercenary ever.  Years later, Marcus, with his further improved skills, began to do his own contracts, eventually taking out up to 40 marks a year. 

 

At age 30, Marcus was considered to be a well renown 'solo' mercenary That same year, , however, the old man that trained him, was dying.  On his death bed, the old man mentioned to Marcus about the location of the old "Death's Door" Death Legion HQ and that maybe, after all these years, he might find something useful there to help him continue in his career.  Rather that die a slow painful death in the hospital, Marcus killed the old man with an execution shot to the head and left for "Death's Door".

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After days of searching for the secret entrance to Death's Door, located underground and just outside of Philadelphia, Marcus finally found the secret passage to the old dilapidated HQ.  There, the place had been stripped of everything; all that was left were chairs, tables, desks and wires hanging from broken ceiling conduits...and a few Coleman lanterns used by others who'd pillaged the place years before.

 

Over the next few days, Marcus mapped out and investigated the enormous underground facility (was originally made as a nuclear bomb shelter for Philadelphia's rich and famous), and to his surprise, found a secret room where the previous heads of Death Legion resided out of.  There, Marcus discovered hundreds of weapons and thousands of caches of ammunition, electronic weapons, and even an old reel-to-reel computer.  After some tinkering, he was able to get the enormous computer to work.  On the computer was all the data of Death Legion's operatives and mercenaries, their kill records, potential 'marks' that had been killed and some that were never gotten around to, as well as the history of Death Legion and everything this assassin guild had since its inception after the American Revolutionary War.  it was a true treasure trove of info...and power. 

 

Over the next year, Marcus rebuilt the base into a functional, modern facility, using caches of contract money, over 35 million dollars worth, found in a safe in the secret room.  While there, Marcus began to identify with the previous leaders of Death Legion, and found an old cloak and hood that one of the original Death Legion leaders used to wear; the cloak of "Death's Shadow".  Taking the cloak and using a unique set of armor and adapting several powerful components to the armor, Marcus took on the title of "Deathmaster" and started spreading the work that Death Legion was once again 'open for business".

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Within weeks, some of the old guard came back to Death Legion and started providing training to a new younger band of mercenaries.  Super-powered villains arrived and signed up, making Death Legion, once again, a serious threat to any and all on their hit list.  It didn't take long before Death Legion started receving new kill contracts called 'marks', and with the Legion's previous reputation, they quickly amassed thousands of clients...and marks.  Over the next few years, "Deathmaster", as Marcus now called himself, led the new legion with a business-like style, but also with the demeanor of a psychopath.  If anyone crossed him, they'd be dead within an hour's time.  Marcus started using a an old time calling card for all of Death Legion's new 'victims': a black rose.  When a mark was killed by a Death Legion assassin, a black rose was left on the body, identifying that Death Legion was the one who killed the mark.

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Since then, Death Legion has grown to legendary status.  The  old entrance to the base was caved in and an elaborate 'teleportation' system was set up to gain access to the majority of the cut-off base, thus preventing the authorities from discovering the base's use.  One of Death Legion's top hackers was able to 'change' the info about the location and size of the old Death Legion HQ so no one would be the wiser that they were operating mere feet from the collapsed entrance of the original "Death's Door" entry.

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Today, Marcus as "Deathmaster" leads the latest incarnation of Death Legion.  His hundreds of new assassins and mercenaries, coupled with his dozen or so super-powered villains have made him a force to be reckoned with...and a VERY wealthy man.  It remains to be seen what Deathmaster's next 'big' move will be, but if he even attempts to perform a fraction of the previous death Legion incarnation's bold murders, the world may be shortened by quite a few presidents, prime ministers and ambassadors.

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