CARMEN'S DOSSIER

Introduction: My name is Carmen Cole, and I expose people for a living. But not just any people. I specialize in unmasking superheroes and ubervillains. In peeling back the flashy spandex costumes and seeing who lies beneath.

Nobody is safe from my inquiring mind and calculating methods. Just ask the Blue Berserker, the Kilted Scotsman, Shrooma, and all the others I've unmasked over the years. I've got my reasons for doing what I do. It all started back in Beginnings, Tennessee, when I caught my fiancé Mike cheating on me with my best friend Karen - and discovered their true identities as the Machinator and Crusher, my town's resident superhero and ubervillain. They were the first people I exposed. But they won't be the last.

Now, I've come to Bigtime, New York on a mission. To uncover the true identities of the crème de la crème of heroes and villains - the Fearless Five and the Terrible Triad. Here's what I know so far.

THE MYTHS, THE LEGENDS, THE SUPERHEROES - THE FEARLESS FIVE

Striker: Male. Mid-thirties. Wears black-leather suit with gray accents. Special abilities include above-average strength, unbelievable reflexes and agility, and the power to regenerate, or heal wounds rapidly. Uses two swords that return to his hand when called back. Quite popular with the ladies. Has won several "Sexiest Superhero of the Year" contests - without even entering.

Fiera: Female. Late twenties. Wears red-and-orange cat suit. Special abilities include creating, controlling, and manipulating fire. Also has incredible strength. A bit of a hot-head, but very admired among men of all ages for her smoking assets.

Hermit: Gender unknown. Age unknown. Costume unknown. Never or very rarely participates in battle. Seems mostly to provide technical support for the rest of the group. Not known if he/she has superpowers, but rumored to be a whiz with computers.

Mr. Sage: Male. Middle-aged. Wears green-and-white outfit. Special abilities include telekinesis, or the ability to move objects with his mind, and some psychic abilities, like premonition. The kind, elder statesman of the group.

Tornado: Male. Mid-thirties. Wears silver outfit. Special abilities include creating, controlling, and manipulating air and wind. Has a bit of an impulsive, flighty personality.

THE MYTHS, THE LEGENDS, THE UBERVILLAINS - THE TERRIBLE TRIAD

Malefica: Female. Mid-thirties. Wears skin-tight, red-leather cat suit. Special abilities include telekinesis, which she uses to fly. Has psychic abilities as well. The stylish, iron-fisted leader of the group.

Frost: Male. Mid-twenties. Wears ice-blue outfit. Special abilities include creating, controlling, and manipulating ice. Incredibly intelligent, but a bit of a cold fish. Rumored to be a bit of a mad scientist. Aren't they all?

Scorpion: Male. Mid-thirties. Wears black leather. Special abilities include incredible strength, agility, and regeneration. Can also poison victims by scratching them with his talon-like fingernails. Not the brightest bulb in the bunch, but he can flatten buildings without breaking a sweat.

It's not much to go on, but I'll get to the truth. I'll find out who they really are. I always do. After all, I'm Carmen Cole, reporter extraordinaire. And I'm on a mission .

A BIGTIME world

Bigtime Convention Center and Orchestral Hall: Home to the city's symphony and the site of many a society gathering. It's also where all the out-of-towners come for a variety of conventions, meetings, etc.

Bigtime Museum of Modern Art: The museum is the crowning jewel of art and culture in Bigtime. More than a few ubervillains have tried to break into the museum to steal some of its priceless works of art, but none have been successful. So far.

Bigtime Public Library: The information center of Bigtime, the library takes up its own square city block in the heart of downtown. The marble building houses hundreds of thousands of books, magazines, newspapers, and more.

Bigtime Police Station: The center of police operations in Bigtime. Superheroes like Granny Cane often bring in muggers, burglars, would-be rapists, and the like to the station.

The Chronicle and The Exposé: The city's two competing newspapers. Both daily publications are housed in gleaming skyscrapers downtown, and their respective staffs are always trying to out-scoop each other.

Good Intentions Lane: Don't let the name fool you. Good Intentions Lane is about twenty miles past the wrong side of the tracks. It's one of the most crime-ridden streets in all of Bigtime, and the city's superheroes constantly struggle to clean out the gangs and other riffraff that populate the area.

Laurel Park: Smaller than Paradise Park, Laurel Park caters mostly to families and senior citizens who like walk the trails and feed the pigeons that populate the grassy lawns.

Oodles o' Stuff: The city's shopping center. You can find anything you want in the mutli-storied building, from shoes to clothes to makeup to consumer electronics. Superheroes, in particular, love the store because of the deep discounts it offers them. In return, the superheroes try to keep their building-leveling fights away from the historic structure. Ubervillains also shop at the store, which is one of the few places in the city considered to be neutral territory.

Paradise Park: With a zoo, carousel, carnival rides, and concession stands galore, Paradise Park is one of Bigtime's major attractions. Thousands of people visit it each day, and the park never closes, not even on Christmas. It's also the site of events where regular folks can meet and greet their favorite superheroes.

Sublime: Sublime, owned by billionaire Sam Sloane, is the largest home in all of Bigtime. It has a couple hundred spacious rooms full of all sorts of pricey antiques, art collections, and more. The manor could house an army of people and has been the scene of many a society benefit. Acres of gardens, woods, and lawns surround the manor house.

Superhero News Network: The round-the-clock TV station is dedicated to, you guessed it, all things superhero. From in-depth profiles to the latest action-figure and video-game releases, the station covers everything that has anything to do with superheroes. Sometimes, they even read the latest diatribes and demands from ubervillains like Mad Maria or Noxious or Caveman Stan. But the station gets its biggest ratings from its live coverage. At least once a day, the anchor goes out to some reporter on the scene of an ongoing superhero/ubervillain battle.