Supervisors were not a good sign, though Doppel remembered he would have been responsible for it in some part. He didn't have to say that HERO would have his head on a pike if they found out what he was doing, but if it were to go public and Wyatt's gang would put the pieces together, Markus's family would get it worse. It wasn't that his power was ill suited to get some eyes of him but if he were to use them to escape the eye of ICOSA undoubtedly two more would be on him. Doppel knew he needed to watch his back even more now, he begun to exit the meeting heading toward the exit. He had work to do in Watervale today.
Starbright
Starbright didn't mind the prospect of supervisors. Of course he wouldn't be the one needing them as far as damages are concerned Starbright keeps it close to zero. The problem he had with it is the addition of these measures means its not too far from going public. Perhaps it would be time to go to a more reputable agency if that were to be the case. Public outrage like the can bury a company and Starbright is not someone to go down with the ship. For now he didn't need to worry its still the biggest hero agency and even if it did break out it could just be a case of denouncing the heroes involved. He kept pondering with thoughts like that as he exited the meeting and went toward the common room. Entering a, so far, empty room he didn't feel the need to pose on entry but he did anyway. "Jailbirds screwing it up for everyone who would have thought." He quipped sarcastically as he went toward the fridge for his bottle of expensive water.
As Noah was shoved away he fell back on to his back, deep breath in deep breath out. "I should've known that would happen" more muttering to himself than anyone else. He was glad Ava wasn't too hurt but the danger he was shown today bothered him, he couldn't shake it and likely it would stick with him for a while. Though a thought crept back into his head, cameras are on, its time to get back up. "Aaand with that my job is done. I'll be around for interviews for another half hour, who wants the first piece of me ah ha ha." The composed Starbright was playing it up for the cameras again.
The reality of the situation hit Starbright like a truck. I'm going to kill you, I'll destroy you, these are just thing villains say but he never expected one to go through with it. As he saw the savage attack on Ava that had been meant for him, the mask dropped. He was no longer Starbright the strong and confident hero, he was just Noah and he had witnessed a terrible assault. Wasting no time after it was clear he rushed over to Ava, "are you alright? Do you need some medical attention?" He turned back to the others "someone get a medic, there's a sanctuary from the Ambleweeds not to far here, should be plenty there." He had said this before even getting a response or even good look at the state Ava was in. Starbright... no Noah was panicked and the guilt could be seen on his face.
Starbright furrowed his brow as two more heroes came to his aid, he had seen the before. Was it in person? No, but he had certainly seen them. "Those rumors must be quite underground considering I haven't heard any of them. Do I know you?"
"Well as a matter of fact sometimes it doe..." Starbright replied flirtatiously to Phantom's quip, before get jabbed hard in the stomach sending him to the ground writhing in pain. That blow got him good, but he couldn't stay down long cameras were watching he had no choice but to struggle through the pain back to his feet. Posing in confidence he noticed his two fellow heroes who joined the fight to save him. "Good to see you Ava, and you... uh... fellow hero ha ha!" Of course when you say something with enough confidence even the viewers at home forget a fumble. "Of course, I didn't need much saving but any help is much appreciated." That line served two purposes, aggravate his robotic opponent and making good television. He hoped it didn't come off as two arrogant for his allies.
As Starbright looked over toward the cameras he noticed they weren't even on him. Instead the 'metallic prima donna' who was attacking him, what was so special about it. There was only one thing to do, defeat it and get the publicity. "Lets take this thing down." Starbright posed creating a strong beam and blasted it toward Phantom. During the process he whispered over to nanobot riding savior "did you make those things? They look sick, hit me up if you ever need some work." With a business card between his fingered he flicked it over to Sir E Brum.
That first one stung, but the second hit hurt. "Jesus fu..." he quickly cut that line of thought out, cameras, cameras, cameras that is what mattered. But he wouldn't lie to himself and say that it didn't shock him in a literal and figurative way to find it was a real villain. Trying to find his composure he swung into a pose this one absent of it accompanying blast. "You know I'm flattered you would come after me. But frankly I'm a lot more of a lover than a fighter, maybe we can find a peaceful resolution to this. How about we catch some coffee after this whole Ambleweed ordeal and discuss our feelings? Doesn't that seem a lot better than you know, trying to kill me. After all this will be my first time dating a robot." This opponent seemed tough and Starbright for one was not up to fight it. Frankly from first impressions the robots look seemed a bit tacky for him but a date with that seemed a lot better than death. If not by much.
Starbright maintained a defensive stance to dodge the next oncoming attack, but he is not prepared to take the offensive.
"... and thats when I came on the scene. God I must have taken 30, 40 of these things down..." Starbright was filling in the nearby news team of his accomplishments against the Ambleweeds. Making sure to change stance every now and again so that that they could get the best picture they could.
"Today, Starbright, you face your end. I will kill you, and nobody is here to save you," Skylar bellows, her voice boosted. Starbright turned around, ah there was his villain actor he thought. "You are a little earl... I mean I will duel you foul villain. I must not let you harm this innocent news crew." Into a quick pose he shot a beam at Skylar, this would not harm or even greatly blind her however. He prepared to dodge the attack, it was clear he was having a good time.
"Against a hoard of savage plant creatures, one brave hero stands alone. His muscular physique and killer looks are more than enough to take them down but it isn't the only thing in his arsenal. Because his name is" the music started one second too early. One. Second. Starbright turned back to the intern he hired who was carrying the boombox. "On Starbright, you start the music on Starbright lets try this again." Starbright faced back around to the almost empty street only a few Ambleweeds present and a few civilians who hadn't managed to get away yet. "And that heroes name is... Starbright." His own music blasted out the speaker box as he shifted into a pose with a light blast which he intentionally missed as to not feed the plants. Addressing the civilian situation he rushed over to them. "There is a sanctuary not to far from he I suggest to you to it. I'll create a distraction for you to get away, don't worry the heroes will deal with this." He smiled on the final line, often it wasn't about whether you could do the job but about helping people believe you can.
An approaching helicopter could be heard from closer in the city. It was about time Starbright thought as he waited for the occupants of the helicopter to arrive. Starbright prepared his briefing speech so they would know the situation on the ground floor. They were the news of course they needed to know these things.
Dweller
With a swift kick another Ambleweed was sent flying to splatter across the road. It was annoying to have to deal with these things sure but they were even worse when these things start plaguing the sewers. It was best that he dealt with them up here. Seeing a group head into a supermarket down the road he chased them into it.
Two in the produce aisle were easy enough, Dweller through one into the potatoes and kicked it into salad then punched through the second. He had tried eating Ambleweed before, turns out it wasn't bad but he certainly liked regular salad a lot better. Dweller grabbed a basket and put a couple ready made salads in it. Being sure to grab and extra bottle of caesar dressing as they never have enough in those little packets. While he was there he grabbed some orange juice for a treat too. It was going to getting eaten by the Ambleweeds if he didn't come anyway I deserved a little reward, Dweller pondered. He strolled his way to the meat section where the last Ambleweed was going to town on its snack food. With a swift kick he launched it into the chicken section, splattering it. "Well I guess I'm eating beef tonight" Dweller grabbed a great big handful of mince and steak and loaded it on the basket. It was completely full now. One last thing before he left, going over to the alcohol section he grabbed a 24 box of beers and carried it under his other arm.
Dweller past by the terrified cashier as he left, "I'm taking this stuff and you're welcome." There was another Ambleweed just outside the doors. With powerful arm swing he sent it splattering on the road, before he realized it was the arm carrying the beer. They were all shaken up now and its not like he could just go back in and grab another when there were heroes around. Wait. Heroes around! It was alright its not like he was commiting much of a crime plus if he just got the cashier to tell them that he in fact saved the store they would let him go. "Help! That creature thing is stealing from my store." Oh for f*** sake.
Physique Noah doesn't have a mark, scar or bruise on his body. Standing at 6 foot 3 and with a muscular physique. The picture describes him well. He is consider remarkably attractive.
Blood Type AB
Locations Lives in Kingsdale Patrols mainly in New Athens and East Flank.
Occupation Hero and Star
Affiliation H.E.R.O.
Tier Low B tier hero, S tier celebrity (fans often write in about the maltreatment of Starbright only being B tier when he has in fact done very little heroism so far. This is encouraged by Starbright.)
Personality Noah is a celebrity and he certainly acts the part. He is hot s*** right now and he knows it. This bring with it an ego of course and he often displays it when the camera isn't on him. Sometimes even talking down to higher tier heroes who he considers unattractive and 'not worth the spotlight'. When the camera is on him however he is the embodiment of heroism and kindness.
Despite his popularity he doesn't actually do a lot of heroics. Often trying to bring things to a peaceful solution than 'dirtying himself with conflict'. This often comes in the form of using his star power and looks to find some kind of surrender.
Backstory It seemed from birth Noah was meant to be a star, he was certainly raised to be one anyway. Singing and dancing lessons were set up for him the second he could be signed up. He didn't even like singing lessons and it was clear he didn't have a great deal of talent in it, but what he did like was the attention it got him. His mom of course did everything in her power to have him achieve 'his' dream, and eventually he grew into it.
Now he stands as a pop star using auto tune in most of his songs. He had the look everyone told him that but he just needed a leg up in the singing department to be the best that everyone told him he deserves. And with adoring fans in those numbers of course he deserved it all, right?
Seeing a market to be even more popular the whole hero thing looked like a no brainer of course he would sign up. But great tragedy struck his life when he only got a B! This was an outrage, a travesty how could he only be a B tier hero. Noah is now determined to show the hero agency how wrong they are to only put him in B and for that he will put on a show every time he goes into fight a villain.
Powers Sunlight
Short Version: Noah fires lasers of light.
Long Version: When Noah poses he creates beams of light to fire in front of him. He is able to pose and not fire them. He may be able to fire them without posing, he wouldn't know, hes never tried it.
Techniques
Being ridiculously, like super duper attractive: Noah uses his looks and presentation to get what he wants.
Weaknesses: The lasers don't damage that much and is very unreliable to incapacitate people. Personally Noah doesn't like to get into scraps either so he is naturally non-combat oriented.
You might need to disregard the genders in the lyrics
Blake: I cant be seen with him in public after the whole destroying the club of the most influential heroes thing. Never the less seems cool and probably the kind of dude I'd hang out with in my off time. If a had any.
Patricia: Patricia is fun... to toy around with. The ease at which she get annoyed well, that's just good fun. Frankly I dont mind that shes jealous of me.
Wings of Law: God I hate them. They are the embodiment of what fame can do to someone. Disgusting, some people just aren't cut out for the spotlight. Speaking of which, I hope I can cut them out of the spotlight myself.
Tom: So the social media star betrays his friends for a shot at real fame. Whats new?
Grace: It was so nice to just be other places in seconds. I need someone like that to work for me, I could do away with cars and do a whole eco friendly angle. Sadly, I don't think she will take the job.
Eliza: How could I be more popular right now? I'll tell you how launching the 'shy kid' into the spotlight with a breakout song. Add yeah... I guess theres a part of me that wants to help her improve.
The BULLET: Its about time I got some appreciation around here. Everywhere I go in HERO its as if none of them listens to my music. Its so refreshing to have a fan around.
Pandora: Oh yeah, she was the other one in that squad I met a week back. Did I even meet her? I think I saw her when we got portalled to Wings' club but I can't be sure.
Noah "Starbright" Bell HERO Entrance Exam Chief proctor: Harrison Bradshire
Point of note, subjects initial scores were initially perfect. But upon further review it was determined the evaluation team was either paid off or charmed. Our second evaluation of the footage was conducted by the most experienced at HERO.
Test #1 (Physical) Score 70
Subject seems perfectly capable in feats of physical activity. While it appears he has no metahuman abilities to influence this, he could be considered at his peak performance
Test #2 (Intelligence) Score 27
Subject displayed baffling incompetence on subjects relating to history and geography. Results regarding mathematics and English were hardly better. Shows some capability in logic.
Test #3 (Potential Power) Score 45
While the power to conjure light is certainly impressive, it does not appear capable of doing serious harm to others. No structures and targets were destroyed out side of a few somewhat deep scratches. However, the blinding capability is considerable.
Test #4 (Non-Power Combat) Score NA
Subject could not be assessed on this. He 'sat this one out'.
Test #5 (Power Combat) Score 35
Subject could not effectively combat the leftovers. While able to take a few down, HERO personnel had to step in to restrain the leftovers. Subject requested 'this be left off the record'.
Test #6 (Field Aptitude Combat) Score 84
The typical hostage set up was quickly disbanded as he negotiated our set up villain to surrender. Marks are deducted for his lack of comforting the hostages, instead he seemed more interested in bragging about it to other participants.
Test #7 (Field Aptitude Combat) Score 24
A typical case of crippling narcissism. However, this is the worst case our team has to date. We can perhaps attribute this to his peculiar upbringing. He is a subject we would be very interested in studying in future.
Cumulative Score 285 (Average Score: 47.5)
End note: By the metrics of the test and consensus from the review team, we would consider the inclusion of this subject into HERO unethical. For the good of HERO, this subject should never become an agent.
Name Unknown
Villain Name Midas
Gender Male
Age Unknown, estimate late 20s
Date of Birth April 22nd, celebrates his birthday with spectacular fashion but his age doesn't come up
Physique Midas's body is unmarked from a distance, but a closer look will show his body riddled with scars. The picture desribes the rest, stands at a staggering 6'8.
Blood Type Can't be properly determined
Locations Brookside and Watervale both have underground fighting rings big and small. He will unpredictably show up at one. He also takes hero bounties to boost his profile so hes all around the place
Occupation Pit Fighter and Muscle for Hire
Affiliation Villainy
Tier High A tier hero
Personality An initial psychiatric evaluation showed strong signs of narcissism, a medical examination showed a broken nose, for the psychiatrist. No further tests have been done on Midas.
Midas bathes in the thrill of a fight, the lows of taking a massive hit, the highs of sending his opponent flying he will take it all. Of course he doesn't mind the pretty penny he makes from bets. But the greatest thrill for him is taking on a high tier hero. This is the closest he gets to losing it all and the risk makes the reward all the sweeter.
Midas is cocky and brash but he isn't a total idiot, he is slowly taking over some of the smaller fighting rings in Castleburg. Though so far he has little plans for them outside of some extra income.
Backstory Little is actually known about Midas before making his shining debut 4 years ago against A class hero The Bull. Which end with Midas hitting him with a Backbreaker after a 50 meter drop, permanently retiring The Bull. From then on Midas has been fighting in fighting pits and against heroes in the streets until present day.
This isn't to say some facts haven't popped up: -His favorite food is spaghetti bolognese 'just like mamma used to make'. -He is overly pleased with monetary gain suggesting he came from a poorer community -He has never really mentions his family suggesting they are either dead or a very well kept secret.
Powers Gold King
Instead of regular sweat Midas instead sweats a substance similar to melted gold at room temperature. He can control this sweat by absorbing it to enhance his strength greatly or shield himself. He can shoot it like a projectile but it would be like a tank having a fuel cannon, just a waste.
Factoids: -His sweat is not gold, under chemical analysis it is extremely similar to sweat the reason for its consistency and attributes are unknown. -Despite not being gold his sweat goes for $40 an ounce on the black market some believe it will give them similar powers or enhance their strength too. Any recorded results are likely placebo.
Techniques
Multiple wrestling moves including but not limited to: backbreaker, suplex, piledriver and rko.
Haymaker: Midas channels all his sweat into one arms for a finishing blow.
Weaknesses: The weakness is inherent, the more he sweats the stronger he gets but also the closer he gets to collapsing.
William Thorson: "He didn't put up much of a fight. That's what you'd expect with a surprise attack, but still, I hoped there was more. I kind of feel bad feeding him to the Gugliano wolves. But hey, business is business."
Specter is a new member of the Bruisers, and has quickly risen in rank. She is the most intelligent in the Bruisers equal with Midas. Her power allows her to excrete a colorless odorless toxin for her skin. It is almost impossible to detect it until the opponent has breathed it in. The only effect of the poison is a minor headache but she is able to make objects invisible to those who are affected.
Chuck and Vicky Niles are twins by birth. While neither are technically powered individuals, they are both note worthy for their engineering talents and utter fearlessness.
Their fighting style is using metal fighting suits with a ton of mini jet engines on them.
Doppio is an ex HERO hero. Seeing the rise of the Brookside Bruisers he strived to prove himself and join. He has grown up in Brookside all his life, and has experienced the gangs that came before. He sees the Brookside Bruisers as 'the best Brookside is going to get' and genuinely believes it.
Name Yui Maeda
Hero Name Cerise
Gender Female
Age 23
Date of Birth Febuary 17th
Physique Fit, 5'7"
Blood Type O
Locations Avoids Brookside Lives in New Athens
Occupation Hero
Affiliation Ex-Koshiki Devils HERO
Tier B
Personality Yui is surprisingly happier than her backstory would let on. She takes challenges head on and won't hesitate to play the hero. Ultimately she is satisfied with the way this all has turned out and isn't wasting the opportunity.
This of course changes when the threat of her past comes back up.
Backstory From birth Yui didn't really have a choice what happened to her. Her father was Koshiki Devils and as an only child she was expected to be Koshiki Devils as well. The fact that she developed powers at the early age of 13 sealed the deal. Not like she minded, she was raised in Brookside without a great deal of wealth to her name. The promise of some extra money sounded good, and her upbringing lowered her standards where she didn't care where it came from.
Yui got to live that life, getting a lot of money from being a metahuman member of the gang. But there were plenty of bad moments to balance it out. The Devils would always be looking to abuse her power in different ways to gain the upper hand in the turf wars. And after years of forced experimenting she developed an extra power. A way to manipulate the mind with her power. Yui hated it. She always felt wrong using it, as if she was intruding on someones very soul. But that was just her life, and this power was abused to its full extent.
The breaking point was when they brought someone in with a burlap sack over their head. Yui implanted the needle used for her power and went to work. She wasn't one to ask questions, no one asks questions. But that curiosity peaked, 'why was this person hidden? They had never done it before.' The only thing she was given before diving into this persons mind is that they needed to know all the information this person knew about the Wah Chings. It was the same as normal, what was special about this person?
Instead of diving straight for the memories she needed, she explored a bit. Some things piqued her interest. This person was schooled in Japan, they had been there for many years, and joined the Yakuza there. Was this man part of the Koshiki Devils? Diving further she came face to face with a child image of herself. The person she was doing this to was her father. After that she didn't waste any time. She got the information learning that he was planning on betraying the Devils, but that didn't matter to her. Yui couldn't let them know that she knew who this was, she just gave the information over and watched her father be dragged away still unconscious. She tried to hold back tears as she heard the gunshot a few minutes later.
Did they really think Yui would just go on as if everything was normal after that? She needed to get out, but the life of a villain was oppressive and hard to escape. What was she going to do, call the cops? No she needed a miracle and she got that wrapped in angels wings. EAGLES was the best thing that ever happened to Yui. HERO tower being left undefended meant that she could restart life. Though it meant she would have to use the power she hated.
Using the needle on a HERO 'tech guy' she manipulated him into changing the HERO database. She didn't want to screw with it too much. The Koshiki Devils kept her more or less a secret, so it was easy to erase herself from the database. But then she got him to register her as a HERO and make it so that she been there for just over two years. Yui erased any memory of this from the 'tech guy' and returned him to his home. Removing the needle, she promised to never use it again. It was time to start her new life as a HERO.
Yui avoids Brookside at all costs. Although her life is good now and she enjoys being a hero, she lives in the constant fear that the old life she erased will resurface.
Powers Power: Hemokinesis
Yui has the ability to control her own blood but not with incredible force. Her main use is making daggers and katanas that she can control using this power. To make one, she coats some cloth with her blood and makes the handle grip out of that cloth. She also wraps that further with a thin layer of plastic for sanitary and general cleanliness reasons.
Using a sewing needle with her blood on it, she can insert this into the back of someones neck to insert her blood into their brain. From there she has an incredible control over their brain, even being able to induce nightmares while they are awake and reading/editing memories. This takes a lot of focus to do and she has to completely concentrate on it to pull it off.
She hates this power and swore never to use it again.
Weaknesses: She has no explicit weaknesses but no explicit invulnerabilities
Yui "Cerise" Maeda HERO Entrance Exam Chief proctor: Harrison Bradshire
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