Journal of Sociology [S!6] - [Round Two: Ryburg Ritz]

Originally posted on MSPA by Pick Yer Poison.

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Name: Hero Squad (multiple)
Gender: Four dudes and a chick
Font color: #B03000
Race: Humans
Description:
The Hero Squad (as a whole)

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Image by Pharmacy. Yay Pharmacy!

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Gondolier

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SpoilerTrained by Italian ninjas deep in the heart of Venice for as long as he can remember, Gondolier is an expert acrobat and hand-to-hand fighter. His weapon of choice is the gondola oar he was given when he came of age, which was rendered indestructible through ancient Venetian ninja rituals passed down by word of mouth for generations.

True to his name, Gondolier's costume consists of traditional gondolier garb. He wears a black-and-white striped shirt, a red scarf around his waist and another around his neck, black pants and shoes, and a straw hat, with another red scarf on it, tied securely to his head. He also sports a handlebar mustache to complete the look.

As the charter member of the Hero Squad, Gondolier also claims the role of team leader. This was for the best, as he's a better mix of stability, leadership, and intelligence than any of the other team members. Afraid of playing favorites, he's overcautious in treating everyone in the team equally, which can sometimes come off as indecisiveness when he's called on to settle a disagreement.

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Streetfighter

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SpoilerStreetfighter can technopathically command man-made machines, much in the same way Aquaman can telepathically command fish. Of course, she can't make them do anything they couldn't do normally; a street lamp can't wrap itself around someone like a snake, a car can't be made to fly, etc.

Streetfighter's costume isn't very elaborate; a forest green, fire-resistant hoodie and dark blue jeans. Under the hoodie she wears a light gray T-shirt. She strives to look like the kind of girl you'd expect to see headbanging while walking down the street with a boombox held on her shoulder.

Streetfighter sees herself as a city girl and tries to play true to that. Before she tried to join the Hero Squad, she would often be seen spending late nights partying or clubbing, which caused more than a few drunken run-ins with the local law enforcement. Her brashness sometimes causes her to butt heads with other team members.

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Fireface

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SpoilerFireface can light his face on fire. He does this both to intimidate people, as well as a prelude to hitting them with his face. He's in top physical form, and perhaps even more fit than should be humanely possible.

Visually, Fireface strikes an imposing figure. He's built like a gorilla, and even had a stint as a pro wrestler in the past. He left the job, but kept the training regimen, and it shows. His "costume," if one could even call it that, consists mainly of light body armor, shaded in various hues of red and orange. He doesn't wear a mask; it would just be burned to ash whenever he lit his face on fire, anyway.

Fireface has two sides to him. To his enemies, he is a bloodthirsty, hulk-esque figure who has been known to completely ignore being shot in the leg until he's beaten whoever shot him to a pulp. However, to the team, he's like a surrogate father, doing everything from treating their wounds to cooking their meals. He has a bit of a simple mind, but he cares about them all deeply, and that's one thing he's sure of.

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Phantasm

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SpoilerPhantasm is able to create any illusion perfectly, with sight, sound, and smell all included, but only of things a subject already believes exist. He is cunning, which helps him make full use of his power.

Phantasm wears a very dark blue robe over his regular clothes that covers his whole body except for his hands. He also wears a hood that comes up over his head, letting him hide that as well. The most distinct feature of his costume, however, is a blank mask covering his face, with slits for his eyes the only openings. The mask is fitted to fold around the bridge of his nose and has a pair of strings he wraps around the back of his head to prevent it from being knocked astray if he gets bumped casually.

Phantasm is the most mysterious member of the Hero Squad. While he isn't a total shut-in, he does have an antisocial streak, and tends to fade into the background when the group goes out socializing. He keeps his calm and collected demeanor very well - sometimes almost suspiciously well.

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Blackout

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SpoilerBlackout is able to emit pure blackness from the palms of his hands in the form of an ink-like liquid or as smoke. He can get rid of the substance by absorbing it into the palms of his hands, although it fades away on its own after a few hours.

Blackout's costume is probably the most superhero-esque of any of the team's. He wears a black wetsuit with blue stripes, matching wetsuit boots, and a pair of swimming goggles. His hands are, of course, free, as covering his palms would block his power.

Blackout's personality fits his power. He's a trickster at heart and thrives on misdirection and confusion, loving little more than a good prank. Despite his jokey exterior, he's more than capable of putting on a serious face when required.

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Biography:

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Spoiler"Hero Squad, move!"

The double doors at the gate to the warehouse slammed open as Fireface slammed his shoulder into them, the low-quality padlock unable to take the strain. The Tierant's guards, surprised by his abrupt entrance, looked at him curiously. In response, he roared at the top of his lungs and lowered his head to charge at the nearest one, his face catching fire. The other guards raised their guns to aim at Fireface, taking a moment to aim along his predictable path of motion.

"Why settle for ONE black eye when you can have TWO?" Twin streams of ink sprung forth from Blackout's palms as he darted past one of the guards, covering his face in thick black ink. He dropped his gun and started frantically wiping the ink off of his face. He stumbled backwards and tripped over a pile of scrap metal, landing in a dazed, blinded heap amidst distended machinery.

Another guard found his gun knocked out of his hands by a gondola pole. He turned around to see Gondolier in a fighting stance, fierce eyes narrowed beneath his hat. Desperate and off-put by the loss of his gun, the guard threw a haymaker at Gondolier. He grabbed the guard's fist with his hand and pulled him further, adding to the guard's own motion. As the surprised thug flew past him, Gondolier gave him a love tap to the back of the head, and the man fell to the ground unconscious.

A third guard, up on a catwalk, took careful aim at Fireface, when, without warning, the clamps attaching the catwalk to the cables above it all released simultaneously, and it dropped like a stone. The catwalk hit the ground, and the disoriented guard hit the catwalk, getting a number of new bruises from the harsh impact. As he was getting his bearings, Streetfighter rushed up to him. "Yeah, c'mon! Get OWNED, punk!" Before he could properly get up, she dropped her foot on his face, putting him down for a good while longer.

Fireface, largely oblivious to all of this going on around him, charged at full speed towards the guard he'd aimed himself at. The poor goon fired a few shots in panic, but they went wide, and Fireface hit him with the force of a steam train, the headbutt to his stomach knocking the wind out of him. Fireface grabbed him and continued with his charge until he reached a wall, which he slammed the guard into, sandwiching him between the structure and the superhero. The guard dropped to the floor, stunned, and Fireface fell down on him, punching him several times in the head, then slamming his face into the guard's. He got up with a grunt and chuckled at the singed and unconscious man in front of him.

Phantasm joined them silently, having ducked to the side to avoid getting in the way, as the plan of action hadn't required him. The team continued on to the next room of the warehouse, where they found the Tierant and his aptly-named pet, Tieger. Tierant adjusted his smart business tie and smirked. "You're here a bit later than I expected. Get caught in traffic on your way to work?"

Gondolier pointed his gondola stick at the businessman threateningly. "We're giving you one chance to surrender without a fight, then we're taking you out." The rest of the team tensed up; none of them expected him to make it that easy.

They were not disappointed. Tierant pulled out his signature tie-whip and thrashed it against the floor menacingly. "Backtalking the boss? Looks like I'll just have to hand you your two weeks' notice! Tieger, sic 'em!"

Gondolier jumped backwards as Tierant's whip cracked at the spot he had been standing in. "Fireface, Blackout, take out that tiger! Phantasm, Streetfighter, with me!" Gondolier threw what looked like a grenade at Tierant; Phantasm followed its flight path with his head,and Tierant leaped for his life as it exploded where he had just been standing. He landed on his stomach and looked back; he was surprised to find that there was no blast mark. Gondolier tried to reach him before he got back up, but Tierant noticed him just in time, and slung his whip around his feet, making him overbalance and fall forward onto the ground.

Tieger growled menacingly and circled Fireface and Blackout slowly. Fireface slammed his fists together. "Gimme some cover."

Blackout nodded, not taking his eyes off the beast, and slowly opened his hands. "Smoked tiger, eh? Seems a bit exotic for you." Black smoke poured out of both of his palms. It quickly obscured both him and Fireface, and Tieger chose to leap at where it thought they were before they moved, only to be met with a double axe handle by Fireface, clenched fists slamming upwards into the tiger as it leaped at him, and knocking it behind him. It writhed on its back in pain for a few moments before getting back on its feet and circling the black smoke once more, this time a good deal warier.

"Good. I like cooking exotic food," Fireface replied.

The sound of a hook and crane setup rotating around drew Tierant's attention as he picked himself up. He looked above, to the source of the noise, and saw a decommissioned crane still holding a load of iron girders in its claw rotating to hold them above him. The claw inched itself open, and he struggled to crawl out of the way. Unfortunately, he was too slow, and he rolled over on his back to see the crane drop its load on him. He instinctively threw his hands up and shut his eyes...then cracked them open a few seconds later when nothing happened. To his surprise, the iron bars were still tucked securely in the crane's grip.

He was about to get up when Streetfighter placed a foot on his chest, a cocky grin on her face. "How's the fat cat business, grandpa?" He tugged at his whip, intending to crack it at her, but found Phantom's foot resting firmly on it, the expression on his blank mask as hollow as ever, the eye holes providing no insight into what he could be thinking.

Far above them, and at the same time right down with them, a Gentleman surveyed the group curiously. An impressive lot. Notable on their own, but fearsome together. He raised a hand and - was that man fighting a tiger? And winning?

Fireface was indeed doing all of these things. Blow after blow rained down upon the poor feline. It had already stopped making so much as a single halfhearted attempt to scratch at Fireface through his body armor, and was now simply staggering back as Fireface punched it relentlessly. When he saw it begin to sway like a leaf, he let out an ear-splitting war cry, then smashed their faces together. The unconscious tiger fell to the ground in front of the heavyset man, the entire team staring in awe, his heavy breathing the loudest sound.

The Gentleman completed his motion, and the team vanished.