Groups & Teams

Groups & Teams

WMD - The Weapons of Mass Destruction formed during the Harvester Crisis, led by the Dark Avenger and SuperDude, this team saves the world on a weekly basis.

IED - The Improvised Explosive Device are a group of the less powerful superhumans of the Super U’niverse, they are a sub-team of the WMD and as such handle lesser problems when they arise and the WMD are too busy to handle it on their own.

The Family - Led by Richard Reader aka Spectacular, this family of superhumans gained their abilities from an extra-dimensional accident that led to a war with a parallel earth (THE EVENT).  Other members of the Family are Visible Lass, Richard’s wife Sadie, Sear and Clobber, Joanna and Robert Garvey, husband and wife.  They tend to deal with some of the more serious cosmic threats like The Entity and his Scions.

Freedom’s Legacy - They were a group of six people led by The Commander during World War II, who answered to the Allies.  The Commander and Sentinel have since made their way into the future to become members of the WMD and assisted during the Harvester Crisis.

The Raven Institute for the Academically Gifted - A school for the augmented and genetic hybrids of the world, opened by Alejandro Raven on the outskirts of New York City on the Ravenswood estates, and future site of Super University.  It was closed down sometime after THE EVENT.  One of the students would become the first Protégé of the Dark Avenger and later become Zero a threat to NeoGothic City and the hero known as Black Sapphire.

Force 11 - After Arien Blackwood escaped custody by the government he went to the Show of Force bank and trust and committed suicide, his vaporous remains would imbue twelve people in the bank with amazing abilities and reawaken a dormant Star Force called the Pariah and in turn wake the Messiah deep in space.

Adventurers of the Undiscovered - A small group of family members who explore the world in search of answers to life’s mysteries.  Jack Rabbit of the WMD is a member of this group and through them discovered Amazona and her people before they were wiped out and found a god to worship and take the mantle of.

The Column – The governments’ government, super spies who watch everything and protect everyone.  Former directors include Jackson Black and Gregory Haines, the current director if Nicolette Q. Chalm, daughter of Jackson Black.

The B Listers - A sub-group of elite soldiers within the Column command structure.  They are led by Gregory Haines, the ex-director who had replaced Jackson Black after the death during THE EVENT.  They handle missions that threaten the American way of life.

Horizon - A group similar to the WMD from Earth II, made up of anti-heroes who were easily corrupted by the overwhelming influence of Pandemonium when arriving of the Super U’niverse Earth.  The team fell during THE EVENT, only one member managed to remain after the collapse of the Kaleidoscope Cascade.

Intro to Education - Part 4

My name is Mercedes Whitman and I'm a hero on a foreign world. I am the daughter of two heroes, and was trapped on this Earth during an Event that sealed the way back home forever. They call me Black Sapphire when I’m out patrolling, and these are my Blogs.

Sapphire looked at the screen in amazement, “I have no idea who it could have been.”

Intro to Education Part 4 - The Graduate

“My name is Alejandro Raven and in a roundabout way I am your father, each and every one of you.  You see I was one of the Scientists who experimented on your parents and caused this genetic hybridization in all of you.  That is why you are here today.  I approached your parents and offered them restitution for my crimes and a chance to make up for my actions.  I would like to teach you here at the Raven Institute for the Academically Gifted.  Teach you how to harness your abilities for the greater good if you want, or how to wield them in a way as to allow you to hide in society as a normal person.  The choice is yours.”  The speech was always the same, Alejandro never varied in its recital, and it had become his mantra and drove him forward throughout his life after GeniCon.

“We sit before a massive forest.  The Ravenwood, named for myself of course.”  The crowd chuckled slightly.  “Actually for my father who came to this…land long ago in a different time, a time before Augments and Hybrids and the Super Heroes of this day and age.  He used his wealth to build this home for his mother while he searched for his family who were separated on the journey to these lands.  It was secluded from the world at large and she was able to live in luxury and peace.”

“This will be your home for the next four years and we will teach you everything you need to know to survive in the outside world.”

The Event

Another explosion ripped through the campus as Kristoff unleashed the next wave of attacks generated by his quantum singularity generators.  He cackled as they ran and scurried beneath him.

Vin slid to a stop and pulled out his ray gun and popped a fresh clip into the handle it buzzed to life and pinged green and ready to activate.  “We’re pinned down near the fountain.”

“Who are we?”  Lazerface asked over the communication units.

“Vin Maxwell, Donald Darwin and Christian Gotti.  I have eyes on Zachary and Jezebel near the courtyard.  This Kristoff guy and his orbs are tearing the place apart.”

“Confirmed, the WMD and IED are in route.  Superdude is telling us that we are being invaded on a massive scale from another universe, and that he is just one force hitting the Earth right now.  We have sightings of the Entity and three of his Scions attacking The Family over Neutron City.  I am also getting reports of some kind of fleet coming at us from deep space.”

“This shit is going to get worse before it gets better.”

“Your father Max is now in the field and moving up behind the target.”  Walters’s voice popped in over the unit.  “We’re five minutes out; hold your position until we arrive.”

“I don’t think we can do that sir.  The fountain is on fire and now we really need to move.”  Vin motioned to the others and pointed for a hasty retreat around the gazebo side of the courtyard.  “GO NOW!!” Steve watched in the HUD of his visor and stood back up from the remains of Joan’s body.  He took a deep breath and nodded to the rest of his squad.

“Okay let’s move out and give these kids some backup before they end up being the Final Generation.”

Sometime in the future…

A rather pale and somewhat sickly-looking potential student entered the queue behind me.  "Hey," he said. "Is this the line for admission to the superhero school, or whatever?"

He couldn't possibly serious.  Was it the multitude of capes, masks utility belts that gave it away?  Idiot.  I ignored him.

"Yeah.  Okay."

Jack Rabbit opened the door to the interview room.  "E.P.I.C.?  Come on in."

Jack Rabbit.  His suit was even more ridiculous than his name.  Supposedly his suit's design and the hardware contained within were all necessary to facilitate his power of super-speed.  I would have made it better and, more importantly, not look completely moronic.  I sat across the table from him. "It is an honor to meet you in the flesh, Mr. Rabbit," I lied.

He seemed to think my admiration genuine.  "Thanks.  So..." He looked through my file, no doubt in part compiled by the Dark Avenger.  It seemed a rather meager amount of paperwork.  That made me smile.  "...E.P.I.C.  What makes you think you'll make a good superhero?"

"Four things," I told him.  "Endurance.  My suit, which is of my own design, features  a kinetic dampening field.  It is invisible to the naked eye, and it is skin-tight.  It absorbs any potential physical damage thrown my way, from bullets to the occasional tossed eighteen-wheeler.  The material is impervious to flame and highly resistant to radiation, including most known forms of energy generation."

"What about - -"

"It is also resistant to extreme temperature, and regulates my body temperature.  It is adequately effective versus cold and ice attacks."

"Well, that's very --."

"Power.  My suit features next-generation propulsion technology.  I can fly.  The suit amplifies my own physical strength many, many times over, and in conjunction with state-of-the-art combat simulation software fed to me via a heads-up display, enhances my reflexes.  My visor emits an expanding energy blast that was created to rival the power of a star."

"...How is all that possible?  I don't see any generators or anything on your - -"

"Micro-technology.  Beyond that, I can't say much more, I'm afraid.  I'm sure, being a scientist yourself, you can honor some professional secrets among... equals."  I had a hard time saying that last part with a straight face.

"Actually, I think - -"

"Integrity.  Because what is power without an upstanding moral code?  Dangerous, of course.  A path to villainy.  I vow to use my technology in the name of good."

"Er... that's good."

"Cunning.  Because, as you have obviously by now ascertained, it took a brilliant mind to construct this suit.  Mine.  Moreover, I use my intellect to outsmart my adversaries.  Sometimes it takes more than a super-powered punch or an energy blast to defeat a foe.  I pride myself on the fact that I can think several steps ahead of my enemies, and, frankly, there are few out alive as intelligent as I am."

Jack Rabbit frowned.  "That's all very impressive, E.P.I.C.  But, honestly, I'm not convinced our school is a good fit for you.  You've got a heck of an ego, kid, and that can be a dangerous - -"

I produced my PDA and showed it to him.  "There. I believe this amount is adequate to cover the full four years of my tuition?  As you will note, I've estimated generously for cost inflation."

"Sign here, please.  Welcome to Super U.!"

Epilogue #1

Some time ago…

Walters stood quietly and watched the newest recruits train.  Every year the technology available to him to assist in his methods was stronger and more realistic to be of use in combat situations.  One student jumped out at him in skill and ability.  He pushed that group harder than the rest hoping that the leadership abilities would surface and take charge.

The group ran through the gauntlet and suddenly began to act as a unit, one forged in the heat of battle.  He smiled.  His legacy finally had a successor.

Epilogue #2

Sapphire closed the files and frowned.  She began to stand and turn away from the monitors when the entire bank of monitors light up.  They remained blank for a moment and then began to fill with small red dots; they continued to fill until the whole of the monitor wall made a large red number 5.

“What the hell?”  The 5 lasted for a few seconds and then shut off.  Sapphire frowned.

TBC in Stand Alone 7

Intro to Education - Part 3

My name is Mercedes Whitman and I'm a hero on a foreign world. I am the daughter of two heroes, and was trapped on this Earth during an Event that sealed the way back home forever. They call me Black Sapphire when I’m out patrolling, and these are my Blogs.

“There were plenty of teachers and students during the time Dark Avenger spent at the Raven Institute, and any one of them could have been enough to catch his eye and receive further training. But I really need to narrow it down somehow. According to the records, the first two years of school were mainly the four Hybrids and a school full of smart people, but it looks like in their junior year an influx of the next generation of Hybrids came to the school as freshmen.” Sapphire punched at the keys and started to peruse the transcripts in order to gain a better understanding of the school... and who the Dark Avenger had been keeping a secret from her.

Intro to Education -Part 3: Risky Business

Steve Saunders surveyed the freshman class of the Raven Institute, the Next Generation of Hybrids. He frowned. 

Joan walked up to his side and he took her hand in his and smiled again. “I think we have a good crop of people this year," she said.

“I hope so,” he responded. “It’s kind of terrible that we were the only hybrids our freshmen and sophomore years.” 

She smiled as she looked up at him; staring past the full mask he wore to hide his public identity. “We weren't alone. There were others.” 

He nodded back to her slightly. 

“I understand that you think that because we meshed as a squad perfectly and that the others didn’t do as well that we were alone, but you know this wasn’t the case right?”

 Again he nodded. “It’s just hard that we alone were the standouts.” 

Joan shrugged in response.

He turned back to the crowd and watched as a handful of the new students made movements that brought them back to his attention. A heavily muscled Indian was wrestling with a pale skinny Irishman, and he was losing. Steve blinked several times and the inside of his mask brought up the admission files and some of the notes that Walters had already added to them.

Ajay Harjit Sadavir “The Ever Courageous Unconquered Victor”
Country of Origin: India
Abilities: Unable to lose in hand to hand combat once the challenger has accepted, literally a two-fisted god of combat.
Hindrances: Pacifist

Angus O’Shannihan “Black Angus”
Country of Origin: Ireland
Abilities: He calls it the ‘Infliction’. He is able to shift damage that his body has sustained unto another person, effectively allowing you to beat yourself up as it were.
Hindrances: Pain junkie. Rumors of personal cutting followed him to the school.

Across the way one of the people watching was clicking, chirping and gesturing wildly. He paused and laughed for a moment before continuing on talking.

Gamba “Sonic Thunder”
Country of Origin: Zimbabwe
Abilities: Gamba is a sound generator. He can manipulate sonic tones and craft illusions and violent attacks.
Hindrances: His brain is wired in a way that will not allow him to learn any language outside of his home village. I have shifted another student into his class so that he has someone to talk to.

Steve frowned and moved his line of sight to another foreign student. He was standing on a rock and had his hands positioned on his waist in a triumphant pose. He could swear that he could see the Japanese Flag waving behind him, with waves crashing on some unseen shore, lightning crackling in the sky above him. The boy laughed at everyone who passed him by.

Keichi Takemura “Eco”
Country of Origin: Hokkaido, Japan
Abilities: Unknown at this time. Leadership skills, and upper-class learning before transferring to the Raven Institute.
Hindrances: Suffers from residual time differential, causing his words and movements to be slightly off.

An older man was hobbling around away from the crowds and his one normal hand was holding his hip. His other arm was just above the grass of the grounds. It was a massive lobster claw and the chitinous shell went up to his shoulder.

William Randall “The Claw”
Country of Origin: Britain
Abilities: Has a large lobster-like claw on his right hand/arm.
Hindrances: Suffers from Werner Syndrome.

“Seriously fellows, TRANS, LATE, and TOR like the publishing company, not TUR like turd…” He pushed the glasses back up his nose after looking down at the crowd around him. “I once talked to a lunar princess and got her phone number.” He smiled and popped his collar.

“But there’s no air in space so how did you understand it?”

“Oh, Lunar Speak is easy.”

Donald Ronald “Translator”
Country of Origin: America
Abilities: Able to translate and speak any language in existence.
Hindrances: Massive ego, does not work well with others.

A young woman rolled her eyes at the geek’s speech and popped some gum. “I’m out, dork.” She rolled off the step and fell into a hole in space/time and reappeared across the field next to a large metal man. She looked him up and down and purred. “Hey there, sexy.” Another boy's head popped up from behind the metal man.

“What?” He had smudges of dirt and clay on his arms and face. He was wearing overalls and was shirtless, his well muscled upper body on display for all to see.

Katrina Wendell “Passport”
Country of Origin: America
Abilities: Teleportation
Hindrances: ADHD, and general promiscuity 

Peter Reginald “The Sculptor” 
Country of Origin: Ukraine
Abilities: Able to manipulate any material into sculpted creations and then able animate them to fight for him, or provide protection.
Hindrances: Naïve to the real world. He gets lost in his projects.

Steve turned back to Joan and shrugged. “Well, it ought to be interesting.”

TBC in Intro to Education Part 4…

Intro to Education - Part 2

My name is Mercedes Whitman and I'm a hero on a foreign world. I am the daughter of two heroes, and was trapped on this Earth during an Event that sealed the way back home forever. They call me Black Sapphire when I’m out patrolling, and these are my Blogs.

“I work with the Dark Avenger and there are days that I feel like I do not know him at all.  He has a Protégé and this is the first I am hearing of it?”  Sapphire looked away from the scene and then back again.  

“I suppose it makes sense that I am not the first and I will probably not be the last to protect NeoGothic City from the terrors of the night.  But not mentioning that he had lost someone that meant something to him is…cruel I think?”  Black Sapphire stood up and walked around for a few minutes trying to piece her mind back together.  

She stopped and turned back to the computer and pulled up the files of his tenure at the Raven Institute.

Intro to Education Part 2 - Higher Learning

“My name is Maximillion Maxwell Powers; the students have taken to calling me 3M for some reason.  I am an Augment and my abilities are mental in nature.  I possess an Eidetic Memory, and a tactically analytical brain.  I teach several courses in the school, two classes to the normal students and another two to the gifted amongst us.”

“There are normal students here also?”  Huffington MacDougall asked.

“That is correct.  Mr. Raven is looking out for the Hybrid students, but this is a school for the academically gifted also.  The normal students here are in the highest percentile of academic community.  This is a fully accredited school.  I will be your student advisor and your homeroom teacher, if you have any problems, complaints or questions please feel free to come to me with any issues that may be bothering you.”

---

“I was once called the Rainbow Maniac by the press.  After gaining my abilities I decided to try and rob a bank.  I made it as far as the foyer and started to call out to the assembled masses and chickened out.  It did not stop the banks security guard from shooting me in the leg and having me arrested.”  He smiled at the class.

“Why did they arrest you?”  Steve questioned.  “You didn’t actually commit the crime.”

“Why did they call you the Rainbow Maniac?”  Joan asked immediately after Steve finished.

“The guard saw my Augmentation,” he began to raise his sleeves, “And reacted to the unknown.”  Gemstone-like growth sprouted from the back of his hands and ran up his forearms and elbows, stopping just below his shoulders.  The gemstone flickered through the colors of the spectrum.  “They released me the next day since I had not actually done anything wrong.  I was awarded a small settlement for being shot.  The press latched onto my appearance and assigned me the name after I was released.  It stuck and was my 15 minutes of fame.”

“Other than looking pretty what does it do?”  Huffington asked as he leaned forward to take in as much of the gemstone that he could from his seat.

“I can generate the gemstone in various amounts and discovered that once I had enough of it I could summon individual colors as a beam of light that causes various afflictions.  Some are psychological; some are physical, although this is limited by proximity and line of sight.”

“How do you mean?”

“The mass floats above me; I usually have it in the atmosphere where it cannot be seen easily which limits the accuracy of my shots do to fights being a moving thing.  I focus on the “bitch” hit when it comes to conflicts.”  The students snickered.  “This means I try and avoid fights when I can since I tend to lose physical confrontations.  I would prefer it if you would call me Eli as it is my given name and please try and avoid calling me the Rainbow Maniac.”  He reached back and lifted the large history book from his desk.  “Okay class today we will start with Napoleon and the battle of Waterloo.”

“Aw…”

---

“Alright class, sit down and shut up.  My name is Mr. Walters.  I am your Combat Education teacher and I will be teaching you how to defend yourself and how to work as a unit.  You will be assigned a team and you will work with that group of people for the rest of the year.  There are no questions in who gets assigned with whom, and I make the final decision. Period.”  He walked to the chalk board and began to right out names of squads.  Red, Blue, Black, and finally Brown, then he began to list names below the squads.  There were groans and general grumblings as he proceeded.  “Each of the groups has been calibrated to be effective statistically, giving you a Tank, a DPS, and a Healer, with one additional member as support.”  He moved around to the front of the desk and ordered everyone to stand.  “Now we go outside and everyone is going to be punched in the face just so you know how it feels.”  The female students raised their hands in objection.  “Everyone.”

---

A cigarette dangled from his bottom lip and he pulled it up and took a long drag the cherry lighting his face slightly.  He exhaled and smiled at the class.  “My name is Wynn Francis Hunter Lockheart.  I am the son of the greatest occult detective in North America, Damian Lockheart, which means I am in my father’s shadow and I have something to prove to him.  So I turned to teaching.”  He walked to the chalkboard and began to write out his name.  “So I am here to make you all aware that the supernatural is real and teach you about the two cities of magick and the villages of mystism.”  A hand shot up and he nodded at the wielder.

“But none of us are magic.”  Joan stated.

“Magick, with a k.”  He turned back to the board and continued to write.  “I understand that none of you are mystic in nature but at the same time you are a derivative of the supernatural.  That is why you are in this school to begin with.  DNA that fed your parents abilities fuel the blood that runs in your veins and that DNA was at its heart mystic in nature.”  He took another drag and exhaled.  They noticed then that the smoke was caught and pushed from the room out a window.  “I come from mixed breeding.  My father is one of the supernatural forces that protects the world and my mother was…a cross dimensional tryst.”  Wynn frowned at the thought.

“There’s other dimensions?”  Huffington asked.

Wynn sighed.  “Yup and that’s a different class entirely.  Now if you will all open to page three of your books…”

TBC in Intro to Education Part 3…

Intro to Education - Part 1

My name is Mercedes Whitman and I'm a hero on a foreign world. I am the daughter of two heroes, and was trapped on this Earth during an Event that sealed the way back home forever. They call me Black Sapphire when I’m out patrolling, and these are my Blogs.

“Have you finished?”  Walter’s spoke up from behind her.  Sapphire sniffled and wiped at her nose then nodded.

“There’s something I don’t understand about you and why you are making me do all of this.”  Sapphire responded.  “I understand that you have gone out of your way when no one else would and have taken me in when I had nowhere else to go.  I get that you see potential as a hero in me and that you feel I need more training before you think I will be ready.  But I think that you may have done this before, that I’m not the first one that you have brought here and gone through this with.”

Walter’s nodded.  “You aren’t the first and who knows, you probably won’t be the last.  Complete training is important to me and what I did out in the world.  It does not do anyone any good to be unprepared when fighting crime.  Before I picked my Protégé I taught at a school outside of the city, I was doing one of the WMD a favor and helping some of the students there to be better strategists and hand to hand fighters.  I did this for a few semesters and one of them caught my eye and I took him under my wing and expanded his training to replace me and my duty.”  Walter’s looked away from her then and stared off into the darkness.  “I lost him.”  Sapphire stood to go to his side and he held up a hand.  “Stay.  You have more work to do.”  He walked off and she lost him in the shadows.

Intro to Education Part 1 - The Freshman

My name is Steve Saunders and I am a super hero?

Allow me to clarify that statement.  I have extra-normal abilities granted to me through a quirk in my genetic code.  The Government has taken to calling us Hybrids, this new generation of powers, born of Augmented parents.

My Parents are famous, my mother is a cook and has a chain of chicken restaurants under her ‘wing’ and my father is a businessman.  Between the two of them I am second hand famous, and now that I am in this school I have to hide who I am to save my parents from possible embarrassment. 

The school is the Raven Institute for the Academically Gifted.  It is run by a man named Alejandro Raven and is the reason I even exist in the first place.  Many years ago he worked with a company called GeniCon along with another woman and through them another doctor, Barnabus Alexander, better known to the world as Jack Rabbit, the speedster of the WMD.  GeniCon and Alexander developed a way to harness the genetic code of a being to hijack DNA and kick start a chemical chain reaction to grant the individual exposed to the process abilities beyond the normal.  They were quickly referred to as Augments or the Augmented.  Some of the Augmented became heroes, some used their abilities for villainy and others just maintained their normal lives, ignoring their powers as much as they could.

Several weeks ago Alejandro came to my parents and offered to train me and finish my schooling at no cost to them and they quickly agreed.  I think they secretly hoped that they would never see me again.  It seems that I was the first Hybrid born on the Earth.  So I was some kind of a big deal to the government and GeniCon.  Luckily GeniCon folded before any of my abilities manifested and Alejandro was watching out for me and kept me off the radar of those who would exploit me.

Within the first few weeks of my arrival several more students came to the school.  

Joan Grant, a young woman who would become the healer of my group.  She was a Meta-Kineticist, which broke down to her being a telekinetic at the molecular level and able to mend wounds by rearranging the strands of DNA.

Huffington MacDougall, a brilliant young man who acted as our tank.  He was able to increase his mass to become a solid form related to the strength of his density at the moment, being wood, stone, or metal.

Randall Douglas, he decided he liked being called the Elemental.  He was able to harness and transform his body into the various basic elements and then mix them into additional forms.  Which enough preparation he was able to become magma bleeding a cone of freezing cold in a time of extreme stress.

These were to be my classmates for the first few semesters.  Their abilities had all started to manifest so they were in need of training in the use and control of them.  There was supposed to be a fifth member of our group but Wallace Wellington developed flight and unfortunately had no control over it and was struck by a jet liner, he was killed instantly.  

It would be a few days before we would meet the Special teachers that Mr. Raven had brought in to help train us.

TBC in Intro to Education Part 2…