The Marvels
ABOUT
In the wake of a catastrophe of epic proportions, a new team of young heroes emerged, bonded together by circumstance. What they lack in experience, they make up for in heart.
MEMBERS
Icon \ Season \ The Masked Bug \ Wild \ Cosmic \ Elementa \ Wyverness \ Airborne \ Animaton \ Perceiver \ Level-Up \ Osprey \ Hopelight \ Ajax \ Nitro \ Inner G \ Stormbound \ Psiclout \ Outrunner \ Magnetarr \ Tara Cotta \ Youngstar
ISSUES
Called to action by the Paragon Police Department to investigate a series of kidnappings, several heroes met up in King's Row and after briefly introducing themselves, investigated the area for suspicious gang activity. Icon discovered gang-members gathered in a nearby alley and the team took positions on a nearby rooftop to eavesdrop. Listening in on what they assumed to be a simple drug deal, they overheard talks about a "shipment being made." The group interrupted the meeting and took down the gang members before confronting their leader. He revealed himself as Maximus Payne and warned the group that they were in over their heads. Maximus escaped into a nearby warehouse with the heroes in pursuit.
Inside, the team learned of a new band of criminals who called themselves "Disciples." While rescuing the hostages, they found and captured Maximus, who claimed that even though the group had saved the hostages, they'd helped by "punishing" the Disciples. Afterwards, Season discovered and searched a suspicious looking crate, finding both explosives and a note with a Steel Canyon address on it.
After regrouping in Steel Canyon, the team find that the Disciples have already planted bombs. With no time to waste, they went to work and deactivated them before they could detonate. The heroes were relieved and planned on celebrating, until a massive explosion went in the distance, sending shockwaves across the entire city.
In Atlas Park the team of heroes are horrified to find that multiple buildings have been destroyed in the explosions. They discover that members of The Disciples have gathered amidst the destruction, but don't fight back when attacked. Realizing the Disciples are actually members of a cult, the team then comes to face-to-face with Agony, the villain responsible for the catastrophic event. A mutant with the ability to absorb anguish and pain and convert it into physical strength, Agony planted bombs across the city to empower himself and his followers.
After the supervillain easily overpowers the group, they flee and form a new plan. Realizing that Agony's strength is gathered by those in pain and suffering, the team lead him away from the city. With the telepathic abilities of Silk Dove and illusions constructed by Hopelight, the Perceiver, and Level-Up, they trick Agony into venturing into Eden, the desolate forest outside of Paragon. With Agony's powers diminished in Eden, the group of heroes manage to finally defeat him. With a new sense of purpose, the heroes decide to stick together, officially forming The Marvels.
The Marvels go out for a night on the town to get to know each other better. At Club Incubus, James Rosenbaum, sleazy CEO of the Rosenbaum Fashion Company, began aggressively pursuing Icon and Quaked. After a brief scuffle between Bug-Bite and he, Rosenbaum is nearly assassinated by an unseen assailant who warned him "his death awaits" before vanishing without a trace. After a thorough session of interrogation as to who his assassin was, Rosenbaum coughed up one name: Kenji Kyoshi.
The team travel to Tokyo, Japan, where Icon and Perceiver pose as reporters and manage to infiltrate Kyoshi-Tech Industries. Kyoshi politely canceled the rest of their interview once the name Rosenbaum was mentioned and had Icon and Perceiver escorted from the building. Perceiver shapeshifted into Kenji Kyoshi, sneaked back into his office and discovered his appointment schedule. Five days prior to the attempt on Rosenbaum's life, Kyoshi met with Maxwell Parker Winthrop, founder of the Dynacorp conglomerate, and a known rival of Rosenbaum's.
Traveling to Dynacorp's headquarters, the group discover the building had been locked down and Winthrop had barricaded himself in his penthouse office. They fight through legions of Dynacorp's security androids to reach Winthrop and question him as to his involvement in Rosenbaum's attempted assassination. After bringing him into custody he admitted he hired the assassin known as Skill to kill Rosenbaum, but that once he botched the job, Winthrop refused to pay him. Fearing for his life, he locked himself inside his office building to protect himself.
Now in protective custody, Winthrop offered to tell The Marvels the location Skill contacted him from in exchange for a plea deal. On the tip from Winthrop, the team travel to an abandoned warehouse in Independence Port and find that Skill and his clan of ninja have been using the location as a staging ground. They find and defeat the assassin and his clan but discover he was actually only a decoy and the real Skill is still at large, presumably watching them.
The Marvels got together for a team dinner at Golden Wok, a popular Chinese restaurant in Kings Row operated by an elderly Chinese man named Wong Zhen Lao. After the team finished their dinner, Wong Zhen approached them and bluntly asked if they were superheroes. The team, not wanting their secret identities to be revealed, assured him he was mistaken.
Wong Zhen laughed and claimed they could trust him because he's a retired superhero. He urged the team to come see his "home" so they would believe him. Wong Zhen gathered the heroes close to him, cast a teleportation spell, and to their surprise they found themselves no longer in Kings Row but in... CHUN LIAN, the Hidden City.
Wong Zhen gave them a quick tour and the team followed him to a sacred temple where they learned more about Wong Zhen's past. Wong Zhen recounted how he found Chun Lian when he was a small boy and how he was raised by the monks. The monks taught him martial arts and the Way of the Golden Fist of Heavenly Power. He explained the reason he brought them to Chun Lian was to test them to see if they were strong enough. He sparred with the group and proceeded to pass on some of his knowledge on to them. Wong Zhen then told them they would be welcome to return to Chun Lian at anytime, as long as they came by the Golden Wok to visit him and order take-out.
After a shift at El Super Mexicano, Bug-Bite responded to a police call about a nearby bank robbery. He arrives and encounters an enigmatic villain called The Puzzlemaster. Bug-Bite calls the team for back-up but when The Marvels arrived on the scene, they find only his communicator left behind on the ground. They run into the Puzzlemaster and he welcomes them to his “reality” as they are about to capture him. The Puzzlemaster revealed he wanted to play a game with our heroes by using his reality warping powers and transformed the bank they were in into an enormous maze.
Using his abilities, The Puzzlemaster created a massive spider-like monster that ambushed the team, and after Icon gets physically injured they realize they are not illusions. Puzzlemaster attempts to use a fake Bug-Bite to trick them into splitting up and Icon almost falls for it. Wild used her chlorokinetic abilities to clear a path in the maze and they eventually find the real Bug-Bite being held captive. They defeat a stone golem that attacks them and manage to knock out the Puzzlemaster afterwards, causing the nightmarish reality to come to an end. Back in Steel Canyon, the Puzzlemaster’s body mysteriously vanishes and the team agrees to not let their guard down next time they encounter him.
In Talos Island, the team witness the crash of a massive alien spacecraft. They investigated, searching for any survivors but find only the bloodied corpses of an unknown alien species. The Marvels made their way into the command sector of the ship and encountered two survivors. As Season cast a translation spell on the two aliens, the team overheard the Commander ordering his soldier to get systems back online and cursing the Plenary for steering their ship off course. Hopelight reveals to the team that these aliens are the mighty Gorzog and were the cause of her home planet's destruction. The Gorzog discover and attack the team, but their fight was then interrupted by a mysterious man flanked by armed forces. The soldiers shot and killed the Gorzog Commander as their leader introduced himself as Dale Ashcroft and his Agents of M.A.R.S. After a brief scuffle, Captain Thompson, Ashcroft's right-hand-man, activated a powerful sonic cannon, incapacitating the team and allowing Ashcroft and his men to collect both the corpses of the Gorzog bodies and kidnap Hopelight.
Hours later, the team recovers and Hopelight communicates with them by using her telepathic powers. She provides them the location of the M.A.R.S. lab she was being held in and they quickly made their way to rescue her. In the lab they also discovered another man who'd been held captive and experimented upon for weeks. He suffered from severe memory loss, but was willing to help as they battled a platoon of M.A.R.S. agents. They were attacked by Captain Thompson who, on the verge of defeat, injects himself with a serum infused with Gorzog DNA. He violently mutates into a hulking brute and almost overpowers the team but is eventually defeated. The Marvels regroup back in Talos, where Hopelight uses her abilities to help the man they rescued recover some of his memory. He reveals his name is Liam Lee, a superhero named Cosmic, and warns them of an oncoming alien invasion.
A week after the incident at the M.A.R.S. lab, Cosmic has become good friends with The Marvels as he regains memories of who he is. During a meet up in Atlas Park to introduce new members and to report on recent missions, they are interrupted by a trio of space-based heroes. The three introduce themselves as The Plenary, Captain Universe, and Superstellar, and they bring with them a warning to Cosmic that the Gorzog are fast approaching Earth. Plenary then revealed that Cosmic is her husband who had seemingly abandoned her. Unfortunately, Cosmic was still unable to remember who she was or anything about their prior relationship.
The Plenary and Captain Universe teleported The Marvels to their space-based headquarters (dubbed the Nexus) where they prepared a plan to defend the Earth. Their discussion was interrupted as the Gorzog armada appeared via lightspeed and soared past the Nexus towards Earth. The team then received a message from Icon back on Earth that the Gorzog had arrived in Paragon City. In a hurry, the team teleported back to the city where they destroyed their transport ships, rescued civilians and fought off waves of the alien invaders. In the meantime, The Plenary, Captain Universe, and Superstellar battled the armada in space. The Marvels were successful on Earth and drove the Gorzog back.
The Marvels regrouped with the Plenary, Captain Universe, and Superstellar at the Nexus and with their help they take the fight to space. On arrival they encountered The Destroyer, the almighty ruler of the Gorzog, and his army on the Moon who challenged the group of heroes to a cosmic battle for the fate of their planet. After an arduous and lengthy fight, The The Marvels eventually defeated him and the Gorzog hastily retreat back to their home world.
Brickstown was the site of a war between the forces of inferno and the secretive group known as the Gallant Guard. It was strange to find these heroes in America, especially Paragon city, furthermore it was alarming since that meant that the invasion of these demons was not limited to just Europe, the base of operations of this secretive pact between heroes. The Marvels were summoned to aid the Gallant Guard, who found themselves in the city fighting wave after wave of demons named Canaanites after the ancient land of Canaan which gave birth to the mythology of these monsters. Among the Gallant Guard, its founders were called to fight and repel them, but only two responded. The first warrior was the wandering Spartan Melina, who once served Athena thousands of years ago before her death. The second was Godwin, a former Templar of Medieval times who went straight for the fiery gate spawning these beasts while Melina remained outside to deal with the outside forces. The third founder, much to the concerns of the Gallant Guard, never made it.
The Marvels found Melina fighting the war on her own, slaying demons endlessly until she met the team. Now, with enough manpower, the forces of good could storm an abandoned office and rejoin with Godwin and repel the invasion. Though a fierce battle was fought, only the defeat of the fallen angel Nachalah caused the gates to close. But Godwin knew that this was not the end of it. There had to be permanent solution, destruction of these gates, no mere retreat. As he returned to Israel for further studies on how to combat these forces of inferno, Melina stayed in America to aid The Marvels.
Godwin's scholarly pursuits in Israel turned fruitful. He managed to find the location of third founder of the Gallant Guard, the Norse wizard Grimm. More importantly, it appears that Grimm himself was aware of the key to stopping inferno's gates sooner than anybody else, thus concluding that to find this key to victory, the Gallant Guard has to follow their ally into the depths of hell, a fortress. The location of the fortress... a Viking tomb in Greenland.
Melina entered the tomb with The Marvels. Much to her surprise, she faced the terrible overlord Gazul, who was responsible for the destruction of a village in Germany three hundred years ago. Though Melina did what she could back then, she had never expected to see the tyrant again. Yet she did not hesitate to defeat him with the aid of her allies. To make sure he stayed dead, Melina decapitated the overlord and ventured further towards the gate to one of the hellish realms. Once inside, the fortress was within reach. The Canaanites were unable to stop them.
The fortress was full of evil, darkness and peril. Gargoyles staring menacingly as blood was shed and the fires burnt brightly. Melina lead the forces to the final room, braving these fires. There the heroes found Grimm, turned to stone, as well as a book and a strange mark on a stone tablet. According to the tome, only an ancient was worthy enough to bear the mark, and purge the evil and corrupt of the Canaanite forces. Read as a sacrifice, Melina still insisted and touched the mark, which pierced her hand and burnt a scar on her palm. Through fierce pain, this gave her a power to combat Inferno's influence with purified flames. Her first act was to break the curse on Grimm. After a battle with Grimm by their side, a great beast erupted and forced the group into returning home, but not before destroying the gate to Earth by taking the mark. Finally, there was a way to combat these invasions.
The Marvels were gathered by representatives of the city to be awarded a medal for deeds of heroism past when a stranger called the Scientician interrupted the ceremony, whisking the heroes through a shining portal to another time. "It's 1993," The Scientician explained, "...and only you can prevent it from being changed forever!"
The premiere heroes of 1993, a team called The Five Pillars, had been hypnotized by a powerful artifact called the King of Hearts, wielded by a strangely familiar villain called Brother Equinox. The team boarded a Time Torpedo and angled its chronal fields to plummet through the decades, firmly determined to succeed.
And succeed they did! After a series of dangerous battles with each of the Five Pillars, they found the King of Hearts and it's master. Though Equinox managed to escape, The Marvels then used the gem to repair the timeline... or so they thought.
On their return home, they discovered that they had been erased from existence, and the Five Pillars were receiving the award in their place! Mistaking the team for cosplayers, a reporter at the ceremony asked them to pose for a picture! The Marvels decided to go their separate ways for the time being to check on their families and friends...
Days after returning to the present to find themselves forgotten, The Marvels reunite to form a plan to correct the timeline. Gathered on an Atlas Park rooftop, they encounter a young hero named Sound, who assumes they're simple cosplayers. The team is shocked to learn their history has turned to fiction - in a comic book series called The Marvels: The Greatest Heroes of the Next Generation! Gradually, the team convinced the astonished Sound that they were the genuine articles. Wyverness found that the latest issue of the comic perfectly reflected the New Paragon's recent visit to City Hall. Sound revealed to them that in the past, he'd written fan mail to the editorial team that publishes The Marvels comic book and the address is located in Kings Row. As the team prepares to depart for Kings Row. They learn that the name of the writer is... Brodie Evans!
At the writer's apartment, Evans revealed to them that he's suffered from writer's block since he came up with the idea of Brother Equinox and Sister Solstice--the twin children of Season and Wild. Stunned by this bizarre revelation, the heroes were caught off guard when Evans fled the apartment to a nearby park.
The heroes followed Evans, arriving just in time to see him kidnapped by Sister Solstice. Taking advantage of this distraction, Brother Equinox appeared and absconded with all of the writer's notes and unpublished work. More confused than they began, The Marvels adjourned to the Nexus to investigate their predicament more thoroughly.
The next day, Wyverness alerts Icon after gaining new information about avine sample left behind by Sister Solstice and the team gathers on a rooftop in Atlas Park for a debriefing. Wyverness reveals to everyone that the sample she had collected disappeared completely and the Nexus station computer logs have no data at all. She also reveals that she returned to the park in King's Row to investigate, yet found there was no hint at all, just freshly cut grass and trash from parkgoers. Previously there was a 10' wide swath of dead vegetation. It hasdn't grown back, it was as if it was never harmed in the first place... only a trace of faint psychic energy remained.
Tara Cotta reveals to the team that she remembers who everyone was and that she remained unaffected due to her clay form. The team then starts to question whether they are under the effects of some psychic mastermind. Ajax recalls when they fought Brother Equinox in 1993 and the artifact (the King of Hearts) they had retrieved from him. Ajax tries to "use the gem" but has no luck doing so, but recalls a supervillain he knows of who gained abilities from a similar artifact. The recently incarcerated supervillain Perplexo might have the answers they're looking for.
At the Zig, the team meets Perplexo in a maximum security lock who at first seemed resistant to talk to them, until Icon shows him the King of Hearts gem. Perplexo reveals to them that their non-existence and the new timeline they believe they are in is all an illusion caused by the King of Hearts. He tells them the gem they possessed was part of a set of four cursed artifacts: The King of Hearts, Queen of Diamonds, Ace of Spades, and the One-Eyed Jack, each with their own special power. He reveals the King of Hearts has one true master and is able to control the gem's abilities from anywhere, even if stolen or it no longer being in his/her physical possession.
The Marvels are eager for more answers, but Perplexo becomes reluctant and attempts to bargain with the heroes. Both parties negotiate a deal and agree to it. He finally reveals to them they can trace the current master of the artifact by trying to attune the gem and also by creating enough distance between the master and the artifact. The master will be drawn to this disparity and it will lure him out. The team agrees to bring the artifact to space and to regroup at the Nexus.
At the Nexus, they attune the King of Hearts to Tara as she had been immune to it's psionic effects and Psiclout volunteers to use his telepathic abilities to find any traces of an energy signature connected with the gem. Psiclout concentrates and after some time, he finally senses psychic energy coming from somewhere in Southeast Asia. Oma Tangata, the most technologically-advanced country on the planet. Icon then set the Nexus teleporter's coordinates for Oma Tangata and the team makes their way there.
At Oma Tangata, they arrive to find a mysterious man and his bodyguards fighting Sister Solstice. He curses her for trying to steal the King of Hearts from him and wishes her luck in the Mesozoic Era, blasting her and teleporting her away. The team confronts him and he introduces himself as Malthus DeHaan. He demands the King of Hearts, but before the team can engage, Icon falls to her knees and also drops the King of Hearts to the ground. Suddenly, the team is overwhelmed by an irresistible urge to fight amongst themselves. DeHaan's mind controlled them!
He regains possession of The King of Hearts but Wyverness, who is somehow unaffected by his mind control, attempts to capture him. She is overwhelmed by his bodyguards however. DeHaan offers her money, fame, power, and to join him as one of his agents. Her answer was a left hook that DeHaan managed to dodge. His mind control wears off and the team regains composure. As the team surrounds him, DeHaan directs his attention to Icon once again, telling her she will suffer the same fate as Sister Solstice, and casts a bolt of zero-point energy at her. She disappears in a blink of an eye and DeHaan manages to escape.
The team is then confronted by Typhoon, the sworn protector of Oma Tangata and the son of Queen Kalani. Typhoon is hostile at first, but The Marvels explain their situation to him. He tells them he has been in conflict with Malthus DeHaan for quite some time and agrees to try to help them, but that they must leave his country and give him some time to reconcile with the royal council. The team agreed and they return to Paragon City.