Note: "First Date" is considered to be Doorman #1

Knock knock.

Jay jumped to his feet, whistling a jaunty tune as he made his way to the door. He opened it to find the pizza delivery boy he had been expecting, holding his much anticipated dinner.

"That'll be $19.50," said the delivery boy.

"Just let me get my wallet," Jay told him. "Please, come in."

The delivery boy stepped inside the apartment as Jay rushed off to the bedroom. While he was waiting, he set the pizza down on the counter.

"Okay, good news and bad news," Jay said as he came back into view. "I have enough cash to pay for the pizza, but I don't have enough for the tip. Do you have one of those portable credit card machines?"

The youth debated the question in his head for a few moments. Forget the tip, or run down to the car to get the machine. After a few moments reflection, and a thought or two about the expenses of college, he spoke. "Sure, I'll be right back."

The delivery boy opened the door, and a wall of water greeted him. "What the-?" he began to say before he was pushed hard from behind.

Jay slammed the door behind the youth, leaving him to his watery grave. "Damn," he said under his breath, "now I've got to mop the floor!"

* * * * *
    As much as Jay appreciated the convenience of murdering delivery people, he knew that if he pulled the trick too often he'd bring too much attention to himself.  He had a lot to learn about the world he found himself in before deciding on his next move.

    He stopped to buy a newspaper at a corner store.  Emblazoned across the front page was the headline "Hatman Saves Library From Blaze".  A scowl overtook Jay's features.  Before returning to life he had been told by the Void Scholar about his counterpart in this reality.  Honest, kind, polite, and a champion of Order.  Plus he was Canadian.  Doorman hated Canadians..

    He had also been told that if he did not eliminate Hatman from this reality, he himself would cease to exist.  Doorman liked existing, so clearly Hatman had to go.

    Doorman purchased every magazine and newspaper with Hatman's name or image on it, and thought about murdering the clerk who looked at him funny for buying Cosmo and Teen Vogue.  He decided against it.  For now.

    With his purchases tucked away in a bag, he made a quick stop at the liquor store before heading back to the apartment. 

    With a cold beer in hand he began to read.  A lot of the articles he read were fluff he couldn't use.  A lot of the articles wanted to make him vomit.  Wasn't there any dirt on this guy?

    He sighed, took a long pull of his beer, and forced himself to open the Cosmo.  A quick scan of the table of contents found the article he was looking for. 

    Hatman and Rabid Wolf: Their Relationship Gone To The Dogs?

    A wicked grin took over Jay's face.  Hatman has a chickie, he thought to himself with glee.

    More correctly, Doorman thought, Hatman had a chickie.

    It wasn't enough for Doorman to simply eliminate Hatman to survive.  No, Doorman needed to absolutely destroy Hatman before killing him.

    After all, if Doorman intended to stick around in this reality, he needed to get started on his resume.

To be continued

A fun little chapter that sets up Doorman's next move. I look forward to seeing the b@stard trying to take Hatty down.

So for Doorman's power to work, does he or doesn't need a door on the other side where he's sending a person?  I thought he did, but there's no mention of it in these last two chapters.  However, I'm sure there are plenty of doors on sunken sea vessels and ones on abandoned arctic research stations that he could have linked to...  I'm just trying to figure out the rules.

It will be interesting to see how he fares face to face with Rabid Wolf, if he gets the chance.  It's a good test of how easily he really can pass for Hatty...

Looking forward to more!

I'm still working on exactly how they work.  My initial thought was he could create a portal to different places utilizing (literal) doorways.  When Ian wrote him, he could link two points in space together, creating a portal.  When I think about it, I think it's the same, but Ian was stretching the definition of doorway; things like heart valves counted as doorways.  I think Ian's way makes more sense in regards to the similarities between Hatman and Doorman; Hatman puts hats on his head to gain abilities, and that ability gets stretched a fair bit.  It would make sense Doorman would be able to stretch his abilities in the same way.

I hope some of that made sense; it's midnight and it's about bed time.


I don't think he'll get up there right away, but it's in the works.

Me too, actually.  I'm finding writing Doorman to be kind of refreshing.

~Hat~

It should be fun to write, actually. I don't want it to be just a scrap though; as I said, he wants to destroy Hatman first, just because he's a sadistic bastard.

When I think about it Doorman is actually another way to tell Hatman stories from a new perspective (in that we'll follow along with the villain as he tries to take out Hatman instead of the reverse)

~Hat~

He doesn't want to steal Hatman's life, he wants to ruin it before he kills him.  The fact he has Hatman's face just gives him some advantages, and probably some disadvantages too.

As to Liu Xi, how would you she tell them apart?

~Hat~

I worry for everyone who meets Doorman.

 
I understand Glory greeting people by getting in close for a big ol' whiff, but Liu Xi?  

I don't know of any guy who uses a shampoo strong enough that you can smell it without sticking your nose in their hair.  I know I certainly don't.

Glory and Zdenka being able to tell them apart by smell I totally believe, but Liu Xi telling them apart by smell seems a little far fetched to me. 


~Hat~

"Doorman liked existing." I wonder. He may be nihilistic enough to prefer mayhem and chaos regardless of the risk to his life.

Of course, Doorman's decision to not merely eliminate Hatman indicates his ultimate downfall. That's almost as bad as saying "Nothing can stop me now!"

Still, I worry. Doorman is sadistic, ruthless, motivated and resourceful, with hidden potentials in his power. This should not be an easy win for Hatman.

$19.50 for a single delivered pizza? It doesn't cost that much in USD in New York, and now the loonie is worth more.

I agree that he would greatly enjoy mayhem and chaos; however, he's in more control that way than if he were to simply wink out of existence.


> Still, I worry. Doorman is sadistic, ruthless, motivated and resourceful, with hidden potentials in his power. This should not be an easy win for Hatman.
That's the fun of writing the character for me, actually. He's like Hatman in some aspects, but obviously completely different in others. I think he's a pretty credible threat.

The other thing I like about writing him is he's unabashedly evil. With Harvester I kind of had him flirting with being a villain or just cranky, and I wasn't totally happy with that. With Doorman though, there's no shades of grey, he's just plain evil.


I had no idea what pizza costs in the US, to be honest. I know you can order specialty pizzas from certain places here that will run you over $20, and really Doorman wasn't worried about the price; even if he had let the delivery boy live, Doorman is using Jessic Brahm's money right now.

~Hat~