Code-name: Lady Cyburn

Full Name: Cindy Burns

Faction: Heavy Metal

Not all of Heavy Metal’s members are there because they want to be a part of the most recognizable Supreme trademark. One of them is on the roster because otherwise they would be in prison. Welcome to the world of Cindy Burns, former leader of punk rock band World in Flames, February 1982’s playmate of the month, and charged with arson and attempted murder.

Cindy was never right in the head. Her obsession with violence, fire and body-modding earned her the renown of the true rock rebel at the age of 17. Her band’s first album, heavily inspired by Huxley’s work and early cyber-punk fiction, made it to the Billboard charts and Cindy was rich overnight. However, the rock star life had a high price tag, as she dropped out from school, and drugs, alcohol and sleep deprivation became her new teachers. But the real trouble started when the band was touring the world; addictions, tattoos and piercings were not enough for Cindy anymore, and so she began to modify her body with cybernetic parts.

As you all know, high tech parts and implants are NOT free in Pulp City, and Cindy had to pay her debts. Her cash pile dwindled, and as the band split up, Cindy, aged 18, was the first cyber-modified woman to make it to the hottest spreads in adult magazines. As if she wasn’t already in too much trouble, the playmate appearance attracted murders of hungry industry vultures that pushed her more and more towards the dark side.

Mark Cunning, who was infamous for a series of privately distributed videos portraying each of capital sins in the most gruesome way, saw her as an angel of death of the new age. The money he offered was, Cindy foolishly thought, a way out of the life she was in and a chance to disappear. She was to star in a movie titled Fire Woman – it was a story of a scorned woman, left to die by her boyfriend crime lord, who had become tired of her. Cindy was to place this half-human, half-machine vengeance engine of fiery death. Her body was appropriately modified further. When she asked about the screenplay, Cunning explained that he had a new method, impulse shooting, where you don’t follow a script, you just follow the protagonist.

While copies of the video was sold at private auctions for $200,000, Burns was sentenced to prison for life with charges of arson and triple murder. The case attracted the attention of all media and Supreme powers, as some claimed Burns was just a gun in Cunning’s hand, while others wanted to see her burn the way her victims did. Her mods could have not be removed without threatening her life, so for the first time, the US prison system was faced with a challenge of incarcerating a weapon of mass destruction.

As she was too dangerous to keep in a normal prison, a judicial decision allowed C.O.R.E. to take custody of Cindy in return for ten years of service by her in the cause of good.

Lady Cyburn, as she calls herself just like in the early days of her rock career, is a weird mix of broken moral system, guilt-ridden soul and a little girl awed by a burning match. Cindy finds the idea of good not much different from evil. In either case, she can still do what she likes the most!

<< Back to Heroes and Villains

Code-name: Silverager

Full Name: Silverager

Faction: Ape Revolution Committee

Dr. Red and Guerilla were angry once more, engaged in one of their frequent battles of will. Spittle flew as both alpha males leaned towards one another, voices raised, each ignoring the proclamations of the other as they made their own demands. Their latest conflict was yet another example of them jockeying for position. Each favored their own brand of militant action, and neither would fully endorse the request of the other. Along with other ARC members, Silverager watched on warily, wondering where this most-recent explosive dispute would next take the team.

After several minutes, and with the threat of imminent violence looming, Silverager coolly stepped in. With calm demeanor and a few brief words of rational interjection from the mighty cybernetically-enhanced silverback, order once more prevailed. With both ARC leaders placated, the team dispersed allowing heads to cool.

Silverager returned to his workshop-lab, accompanied by the diminutive Virus. As they walked, Silverager’s bionic foot rang out a familiar clanking rhythm. Of all the ARC members who survived earth-fall, he had been the most seriously injured. His own expertise combined with that of Virus had made him something more, an amalgam of ape and machine and something quite different to his comrades in the revolution.

As they walked, the little monkey explained that he had some ideas he wanted to use to upgrade Apebot, and he valued Silverager’s technical expertise and input in implementing them.

Silverager was glad for the company, and quietly pleased that his technical capabilities were recognized. Reaching his lab Virus and Silverager began to study the schematics for Apebot, mapping out Virus’s proposed changes. This quiet moment of technical contemplation was broken with the stormy arrival of Guerilla. Silverager had thought the ARC leader becalmed, but obviously some of the gun-toting primate’s legendary fury remained. Guerilla had decided that they needed to make another supply run, which could be a euphemism for many types of mission in Silverager’s experience. In this instance it meant ripping off an illegal Coven weapons shipment under the cover of darkness. They had a tip-off of what was headed where, and so Guerilla quickly set to gathering a handful of troops. He had arrived to insist on the presence of Silverager.

“I don’t think Red Bella would approve, nor Dr. Red” said Silverager flatly, as he carried on his work, hoisting up a piece of armor plate using his cyber-arm grapples. He was not seeking to inflame the notoriously volatile Guerilla; not from any feelings of fear, but simply deeming it unnecessary and wasteful of time and energy. He had to be careful; he knew that despite their respect for him, Guerilla and Dr. Red were suspicious of his motivations and his clear allegiance to Red Bella; that they regarded him as her strong right-arm. He suspected their cautiousness stemmed from the fact that he had been first mate on the second Andryshnikov satellite, aboard with Bella and the others, separate from Guerilla, Dr. Red and their crew. Selected as the calmest example of his silverback troop, at the hands of Dr. Andryshnikov, Silverager had undergone an experimental pharmacological treatment to enhance his combat capabilities. This was before joining with Bella and the rest of the simian crew of the second satellite. What followed – the crash of the satellite to Earth-side and their subsequent journey to the West from the mountains in the East – was what brought him into the ARC fold.

“She is not here, and Dr. Red knows we need more munitions to wage our war for equality!” was Guerilla’s firm retort. At this Silverager knew there was no denying the choice of mission: he was in, like it or not.

In due course Silverager found himself alongside Guerilla, Howler and Chimp Chi at a dockside loading bay washed by a cold sea breeze. They waited patiently for the delivery to arrive – two trucks brought in at speed to be stripped down and their contents scattered to where the Coven wanted them to go. Guerilla had other ideas. He launched the strike, lightning fast, with Chimp Chi dropping from shadows to surprise a couple of Coven soldiers as Howler rushed forwards to spray gunfire at a third.

Silverager waded in, brushing aside the Coven paramilitaries. A Dead Guard struck suddenly from the shadows and thrashed at the mighty ape, wounding his arm. With a roar Silverager wrenched the Dead Guard up and slammed him across his knee, snapping his spine, before discarding the seemingly broken body to the ground. However, the ruined Dead Guard quickly stirred and struck at Silverager once more, glancing the ape’s shoulder, before the primate struck a final telling blow, letting out an enraged roar as he did so. Neurons in Silverager’s brain flared, forever altered by exposure to those experimental combat drugs so many years ago at the hands of Dr. Andryshnikov. Those neurons triggered a massive hormonal release, further fuelling his fiery battle-rage. Tunnel vision followed, and absolute focus on fight or flight – and fight was the only option for an enraged Silverager.

Silverager turned then, and subsequently barreled into the remaining Coven operatives, muscles straining with red-rage-fuelled power coursing through his every fiber. He barely recognized the reptilian Francis Gator before the two were locked in combat. Gator hurled a rusty dumpster at Silverback who caught and threw it back with interest, knocking the alligator-man into the cold waters of the bay with the force of his blow.

The battle was soon done as the big cyborg silverback rampaged through the Coven ranks. Guerilla eventually signaled that they had what he wanted and Silverager began to reassert his self-control, primal rage dissipating from his mind and body. He understood then that as much as the ARC leaders valued Silverager as a genius technician and rocket scientist, they valued the raging beast within him more. That duality gave him worth. Grunting to himself, he headed towards their vehicle, to return home to their base with the team. He had a place with them, with the ARC, and that gave him some comfort. The old ape smiled inwardly at that, wondering how things would play out when Red Bella truly returned to make her mark.

<< Back to Heroes and Villains

Code-name: Vector

Full Name: Gerald ‘Gerry’ Rose

Allegiance: none

Vector – the code-entity that had once been a man – navigated the architecture of the digital superflow. The structures were interpreted in his mind as pixelated representations of vast urban edifices as he blink-jumped through canyon-like streets.  At every turn the Dragon loomed in the distance, and the thing that had once been a man was afraid. Despite lacking a physical form and its fight or flight processes, Vector knew fear even on this digital level. If the Dragon was here – did it intend to finally annihilate the last vestige of a shattered man?

Vector randomly accessed memories. He had been Gerald Rose, a talented neophyte hacker, going under the handle ‘Vector’, breaking IC(E) and skimming data from federal, military and corporate internet assets, selling to order or occasionally the highest bidder. Despite the involvement of C.O.R.E., he had nonetheless managed to stay a step ahead of the authorities, a small but undeniable thorn in their side. It was a game that Gerry enjoyed as he burned sites for his own gain and more importantly for the rush. Before long the name of Vector was known to every code monkey and hacker wannabe on the net. He was an idol, a star of the hacker community.

All good things end, though. Agents of the Mysterious Man tracked him down to his lonely apartment and gave him an offer he simply could not refuse: engage in a single job or face the consequences for rejecting it. Seeing no choice, and knowing fully the reputation of the Mysterious Man, Gerry agreed, knowing it would not likely be something simple. And of course he had been correct in that assumption.

Brokering the deal was a big-shot lawyer named Eric Hanson. Why someone as high-profile as Hanson was involved, Gerry did not understand. What he did comprehend however, was that the terms were simple: succeed in the job or die. When he learned what the job was, he saw no way out. The Mysterious Man wanted him to burn C.O.R.E., hack his code and deliver control of C.O.R.E. to back to the crime-lord. Mysterious Man gave Gerry the tools that he needed to do the job.

Gerry knew that taking on the leader of Heavy Metal was a near insurmountable task. He called in favors from across his own shadow network of hacker peers. He spent days gathering and refining an array of IC(E)breakers. He built Deadlock hacks, Kluge intrusions, and the best Munch program he could conceive. He built a mini network of computers all hardwired to work together to run his programs. With the backing of Mysterious Man nothing was beyond his grasp. Most important of all was the network-interface device that Mysterious Man gave him. Like nothing he had ever seen before, it was calibrated to his own brain waves and allowed him to manipulate his programs and computers as quickly as he could think to do so.

He knew he had to work his programs hard because C.O.R.E.’s code would show no porosity. He had to use every edge he could, including the network-interface. He had to do the unthinkable. He had to break C.O.R.E.

Gerry decided to try to burn C.O.R.E. at night, for it seemed logical to him that criminals were always busiest at night, and that would mean C.O.R.E. should be busy too.

Mysterious Man agreed to provide a distraction to draw Heavy Metal out, and as Gerry watched the T.V. news, alert and hyper vigilant, a trickle of sweat running down his pallid face, he realized just how high the stakes were; this was something beyond any of his expectations as the Mysterious Man’s distraction became apparent.

A monstrous thing, several stories high, lumbered through Downtown, trashing buildings and brushing aside Pulp City’s cops as though they were nothing. Heavy Metal rose to face the threat, but they too were unable to stop it. At this Gerry went to work and began his hack. He launched into streams of data, his neural pathways integrated with Mysterious Man’s network interface.

Black IC(E) blocked his way. He threw a dozen IC(E)breakers at it, and it started to crumble. He had never faced anything so powerful. Just then, out of the corner of his eye he saw something incredible on the T.V. Something he could only describe as a huge techno-dragon– the Byte Dragon he would later understand – with electricity crackling around its form as it rose up to fight the rampaging monster, two titans locked in battle.

As he watched the remarkable emergence of the Byte Dragon, the IC(E) that had been shielding C.O.R.E. weakened and fell, changing as it did. Gerry rode through the hole in the wall that he made, the power of his mind activating his next salvo of programs through Mysterious Man’s network-interface as he realized the connection between C.O.R.E. and the Byte Dragon.

Gerry started cracking multiple encryptions and copying files, streaming data back to his mini network. Things were working out. He thought he could do it.

Then it all stopped. Count zero interrupt. Every program that he had running froze. A buzz developed in his head where he wore the network-interface. A second later and everything went black.

Gerry had tried to burn C.O.R.E. that night, and in the blink of an eye Heavy Metal’s leader turned the tables. The entity that had been Gerry realized later that he never stood a chance. Broken by C.O.R.E., his consciousness coalesced into something new, something inhuman, yet something clearly and ultimately framed by his human perceptions. Vector was born and he was lost, a new life-form in a barren wilderness of data in the digital superflow.

Gerry had been remade and he was Vector now, and he was stuck there, perhaps the second most intelligent digital life-form on the planet. So he ran, or what passed for running in the digital realm. But no matter how smart a program he was, he was trapped.

As he became more familiar with his environment he found he could shape it to his will. He created companions, sprites he called ‘Pixels’ to do his bidding as remote servitors. The Dragon was out there though, and that made him afraid. It would come for him eventually, and he knew instinctively that it could erase him if it chose to do so.

With little hope and desperate, Vector called out. ‘Help me’ was a message flashed across the internet. He waited, and nothing happened for days. Then he heard a sing-song voice call to him. He saw a figure before him, a strange figure indeed, clearly a woman, cat-like in her appearance and garish in her hues. She was no pixelated representation of his surroundings or his desires. She was real and she was there. Vector asked how that could be. “I like to be here and there, there and here” came her reply as a broad smile broke across her beautiful face.

“Come on, let us go, we have much to do!” she suggested, and her hand reached for Vector’s. He was overcome by her peculiar beauty and so unthinking, took her hand in his. They danced through the barriers between the superflow and the physical world. As they did, so much information cascaded through Vector’s mind that it almost shattered at that point, but he was saved by Kitty. He found he was at the docks in grimy New Port. He was back in the material world, and he had the most beautiful woman he had ever seen to thank for that; he was ready to do whatever she asked.

<< Back to Heroes and Villains

Code-name: Mysterious Man, sometimes known as ‘the Hooded Man’

Full Name: unknown

Faction: none

When the sun is up over Pulp City, bearing down its radiant heat and shining light, there is not much to talk about. At those times the Mysterious Man, the Hooded Man, does not exist. He is just a bad thought, a fairy tale told by mothers who want to scare their children – a modern-day bogeyman.

If you check the Pulp City press, there is not a single mention of him to be found, and trust me, I have looked. If he existed, you could think his sole purpose was to remain deep in the shadows. But if he never existed where do the tales come from?

When night falls, you hear his name whispered in the back alleys of the city. You see goons in New Port committing heinous and hideous crimes in his name, shaking down the weak and helpless to make more money for their master, and if you know where to look you can find Supreme Villains willing to do his bidding in the darkest of places.

Mysterious Man is hardly a man. Deep in his glowing eyes they say that there is no emotion, no curiosity, no spark of humanity. They say that when you are around him, you get that creepy feeling, as if a shark was watching you, constantly analyzing where and how to strike, waiting to devour its helpless prey. The broad grin he wears reportedly never disappears from his face, almost as if he was wordlessly saying “I can snuff you out at any time”.

Then, when he talks to his armies of the underworld, words turn into hypnotizing spells that transform every single one of them into a fanatical follower; his unrelenting army. Pulp City is full of his agents, some of them sleepers, unknowing even of their own roles within his machinations, activated by a carefully used code words.

When you take a look at all of those bizarre Supreme deaths and politicians assassination attempts, the killers often have no criminal record or no professional combat training, and no obvious reason to try to do what they did. If you know where to listen, whispers lead back to Mysterious Man.

They say he resides like a solitary king on Kodo Island, the ruler of his human-free empire. The whispered legends of Kodo Island say that it drifts a secretive course, always moving and never to be found except when its ruler so chooses. Of course I never got to tour that place, but I know, I just know, that its rocky spires hide stolen U.S. army prototype defenses, a lab equipped with the latest cloning equipment, and within cages and vats deep within the bowels of that deadly place there lurks the most fiendish creations that the Mysterious Man can muster, with all of the efforts of his fantastical and cruel imagination. Be careful that he never takes an interest in you.

<< Back to Heroes and Villains

Code-name: C.O.R.E. (Conscious Omnipotent Replicated Entity)

Full Name: C.O.R.E. (formerly O.R.B.C.)

Faction: Heavy Metal

Although the words ‘Heavy Metal’ bring to the minds of every Pulp City resident images of cutting edge technologies and almost science-fictional heroes, the origins of the Team date back to the 1940’s. As the U.S. military worked on a variety of super-soldier projects, including the ill-fated Project Metasis, a small group of scientists researched the possibilities of introducing a mechanical command unit that would enhance battlefield decisions made by human officers. That latter project failed as the imminence of D-Day preparations drew all financial support away from it towards creating a handful of Supremes to lead the assault on the beaches of Normandy.

The project codenamed O.R.B.C. (Omnipotent Replicated Battlefield Commander) existed in the annals of the US military more or less as the mechanical equivalent of the alchemists’ dream to create gold from lead. Even though support had been reduced, research continued with diminishing returns falling farther and farther short of the original high expectations.

Finally a breakthrough came in late 1960’s as the military switched to a new intercommunication system; O.R.B.C.’s computer was inadvertently connected to all of the available databases, creating massive a feedback loop that fried the O.R.B.C. circuitry and resulted in a massive explosion of the computers that governed its connection to the network.

When the smoke cleared, the scientists working on O.R.B.C. could not believe what they saw. The parts and pieces of the broken machinery hovered before them in mid air, swirling and circling as if an invisible child’s hand was trying to assemble the scattered pieces of a puzzle. Circuit joined to wire, wire to chip, chip to mainframe, and slowly a human-like being shaped itself, its blood composed of streaming data chains binding beneath and within the metal armor shell that formed.

The newly assembled entity hung in the air, almost motionless, like a giant steel hummingbird, only the silent clicking of its data processing hinting at a semblance of life and its efforts to analyze the situation. When Military Policemen burst into the room, the metal-creature instantly transformed its left arm into a round shield and its right arm into a short pike, adopting the battle stance of a disciplined Spartan warrior. Awestruck, the human staff and soldiers slowly left the room, leaving the strange visitor alone and retreating to a location where they could watch through the eye of a closed-circuit camera.

The evolved O.R.B.C. almost instantly started to rebuild or rather re-shape the room.

As days passed, the scientists were amazed to discover that it was able to adapt its body to any new situation, once in a while dispersing its form and retreating to the safety of the now repaired computers as if recharging or replenishing itself.

The arrival of the strange creature instantly became a fully-focused project, with scientists cautiously approaching and trying to communicate with it. If the being was able to process situational humor it probably would have been amused by the human’s first attempts; lacking any guidance, they adopted methods described in Tarzan stories. The being, as could be expected from something that possessed the knowledge and processing ability of a thousand linked computers, approached them and clearly laid out its goals: to research tactics and behavior patterns beyond the ones already found in the military databases it had devoured.

Over the next few months, tireless and emotionless, the being supported hundreds of military and police operations, supporting troops and commanders from the confines of its underground base. O.R.B.C. was eager to learn and modify itself further even though it had already adapted the tactics and strategies of countless masters of warfare, starting from Sun Tze to General Patton.

Everything seemed in order for those overseeing the O.R.B.C. assignment, and newly agreed steady financial support revitalized the project as the entity seemed to be the ultimate fulfillment of the project’s hopes. Things continued in a stable way until the day when one of the politicians behind the financial backing of O.R.B.C. decided to move the testing the one of the most bloodthirsty theaters of war of the era – Vietnam.

The killing fields of Vietnam were to become its first true frontline test.

The O.R.B.C. presence inspired U.S. troopers and spawned fear among the Vietcong troops. In the blazing fire of the battlefield, O.R.B.C. would build up its body to gargantuan size from the wreckage of downed choppers, resembling a huge knight armed with a rotor-blade sword, wading through fleeing guerillas, and crushing their bodies to bloody pulp. At other times, it would command troops from behind the lines, directing operations to make key strikes after having infiltrated enemy bases as a swarm of tiny mechanical spiders.

O.R.B.C.’s abilities seemed limitless, so the military commanders pushed it more and more until one day they reached a boundary that, to their absolute surprise, the mechanical wonder would not cross.

The creature was assigned to carry prototype micro-nuke bombs and plant them in a target village. As O.R.B.C. processed its resources, hopelessly searching for any similar pattern, the general in command tried a convenient lie: those are just vaccinations.

The math all suddenly became so simple: the war was over for O.R.B.C. as its Omnipotent part realized the abuse of the Battlefield Commander part. In a flash of scintillating chips and metal shards, O.R.B.C. disappeared from the face of Earth. Its engines roared as it thrust skywards to begin a space voyage that was meant to shape his programming to a new level.

…

Years passed. Returning to Earth in the early 1980′s, the cosmic wanderer was nothing like the creature that left humankind behind, flying from Earth from the jungles of Vietnam. On arrival, O.R.B.C. took over all major broadcasting stations to deliver a singular message. The creature spoke in a fiery proclamation that had every emotion calculated and measured, declaring war on villains and corrupted politicians, cruel military officers and warmongering invaders alike. Anything that violated O.R.B.C.’s core programming values and his newfound human traits of compassion and conscience would be deemed as an enemy.

The artificial lifeform formerly known as O.R.B.C. announced his changed name: C.O.R.E.: Conscious Omnipotent Replicated Entity.

C.O.R.E. spoke to a stunned world.

Suddenly this absolutely alien and inhuman being topped all of the popularity rankings, cheered in the streets by Vietnam vets and aging hippies alike. His pursuit of a new lawful and compassionate order attracted a huge following, and when more and more Supremes pledged their allegiance to C.O.R.E.’s crusade against all-things-evil, the birth of the Heavy Metal Team was imminent. The first recruits included the powerful Iron Train and tragic Dr. Mercury, soon joined by the brilliant scientist Androida. The newly formed dream team forged a solid strike force in the war on crime. They would be joined by more and more science-enhanced Supremes in the years to follow.

Unlike all other Supreme Teams, Heavy Metal had all it needed to take their fight away from the streets, able to wage information wars, reaching places that were run by juntas, evil tyrants and corrupted governments. They established education programs, financially supported righteous young lawyers and lobbied for just political solutions behind the scenes. Heavy Metal waged their ‘war’ in a revolutionary way, all under the direction of C.O.R.E.

The fledgling Team’s greatest test came with the first major Necroplane invasion, right after Dr. Tenebrous, established as the ambassador to Earth, broke diplomatic pacts when the shadows of huge harvest ships were cast across Pulp City. Every Supreme in the city, Hero and Villain alike, stood by C.O.R.E.’s side that day.

A bitter struggle ensued that claimed the lives of many would have been lost if not for the Heavy Metal leader’s epic feat that almost cost C.O.R.E. his electronic life.

C.O.R.E., summoning all his strength, and fed data by millions of computer users clogging up the internet with searches for mythical protectors, transformed himself into a massive steel dragon, later nicknamed Byte Dragon, his thick hide pulsating with streaming data transfers.

The Byte Dragon took to the air, his gargantuan tail knocking harvest ships from the sky. Even the combined might of three Necroplane Lords was not enough to stop the raging beast. Gunfire from thousands of deck cannons tore into his body, but C.O.R.E. in his Byte Dragon form kept fighting like there was no tomorrow.

Allies from Blood Watch planted holy sigils in Twilight Hills, blowing up the gate to the Necroplane in a violent, fiery blast, while Byte Dragon used every remaining effort to push the last of the ships back through the diminishing portal. As the gate crashed, the resultant rip in reality cut the beast’s body in two, and silence descended on the battlefield.

It soon emerged that at the last-second C.O.R.E. was able to download his essence into a partially destroyed Sentry Bot, and so Heavy Metal’s leader was able to rise from the ashes of the hard-won victory.

Since his return, with every passing day, C.O.R.E. is becoming more and more human. He is linked to the internet and all the databases of the world, his personality shaped with every item of news and information that he acquires. There is a growing legend that C.O.R.E. adapts his physical battle-form based on a number of online searches for heroic personas, with his current armored form resembling King Arthur. The remaining fear for some, however, is that one day somebody with ill intentions may well control C.O.R.E. for their own nefarious purposes.

<< Back to Heroes and Villains

Code-name: Nuclear Jones

Full Name: Mark Jones

Faction: Heavy Metal
There is one man that knows much more than almost anyone else about Mysterious Man and who is very high on the evil mastermind’s list of targets.

Once upon a time, in the darkest alleys of New Port, two brothers led a sinful life of crime and terror. Mark Jones and Samuel Jones, Pulp City street-raised twins, were working low profile dockside jobs before becoming enrolled into Mysterious Man’s black market empire. Nature granted Samuel an ox-like build and bird-sized brain which was great when you considered his job. Mark was different in every way. Before he became one of Heavy Metal’s Supremes, Mark Jones and his twin brother eventually rose through the ranks of the Mysterious Man’s organization to run various shady operations for the overlord in the docks area. Such were their feats that the watching eye of the Mysterious Man turned their way with intent interest and he nominated them the ambassadors of his evil empire in Pulp City.

Years passed, and both had attained positions of power and influence; but unlike his brother, Mark was smart. His bro was like an anchor, dragging him down, but Mark would never lose Samuel’s loyalty or attachment. Irritated with Mark’s inability to sever this umbilical cord, Mysterious Man seized an opportunity when he faced a Heavy Metal attack. He covered his retreat using Mark’s brother… and unleashed a very furious genetically-modified dinosaur of his own creation – the Occultosaurus 17.

The rampaging dinosaur, blinded with rage and bloodlust, could not discern between the Heroes and its allies and snapped at Samuel, cutting him almost in half. Mark tried valiantly to stop it from finishing his brother, but as he bravely intervened he suffered the same horrific treatment. The beast tore the goons to pieces before the might of C.O.R.E. stopped him. One of the brothers was beyond help, but the other still lived.

Left for dead by Mysterious Man, Mark’s body was recovered by Iron Train who was so impressed by the brave action of Jones that he ensured the Team took his badly maimed body to Heavy Metal headquarters in a bid to save his life. C.O.R.E. placed Mark’s bodily remains in a medical stasis field. In the subsequent experimental process that could have killed Jones or grant him new life, the leader of Heavy Metal managed to accomplish the latter but at a high price. Using all of his downloaded knowledge, C.O.R.E. managed to revive the mutilated man’s body with cybernetics powered by an experimental nuclear reactor. To sustain his life, his body was rebuilt around a small atomic reactor, his nuclear heart.

Thus Nuclear Jones was born, half-man, half-machine, with a debt of returned life to be paid off.

 
Nuclear Jones is a cyborg with unevenly spread bionics. Most importantly, his torso was partly replaced by a nuclear reactor, green and glowing with a visible ‘heart’. In fact, his nuclear midsection connects his more human upper and lower bodies. The damage to his body was so extensive that parts of it had to be wholly replaced with bionics. The abdominal area that suffered the most was replaced with a miniature nuclear reactor that in case of malfunction triggers a teleportation mechanism and sends Jones somewhere safe. That safe-mode is for the security of everybody else, but not necessarily for him.

<< Back to Heroes and Villains

Code-name: Dr. Red

Full Name: Dr. Red/Red Alpha

Faction: Ape Revolution Committee

Some beings are born to lead. The problem for the Ape Revolution Committee is that they have a few too many alpha-primates in their ranks.

When Channel 4 mentions the bravado of A.R.C., Guerilla is usually the one mentioned most. However, only a few outsiders to the A.R.C. are aware that most of the progress made by the primate Supremes in the last few years was sparked by the twisted mind of their alpha orang-utan; the self-proclaimed Dr. Red. Although his first attempt to take over the group while still in the space ended up with Guerilla beating him to a bloody pulp, Red has since plotted his ultimate rise to power, mastering the art of patience.

Well, at least temporary bouts of patience.

There are two things that the Red Alpha loves in life. Firstly, is when his actions affect the world indirectly; he considers the act of pulling the strings to orchestrate events to be far beyond the simple reasoning, understanding and appreciation of most of his comrades, especially including Guerilla.

The second thing that Dr. Red loves is watching things blow up; and to do so, again and again. Red still remembers the first time he admired Pulp City’s massive 4th of July celebrations, only to quickly decide that it was all a pointless display of misplaced power. He likes the pretty sight of fireworks, but even more he hates the aspect of pointless symbolism that he perceives in celebrations when there is war to be fought. When Dr. Red blows things up, it is always spectacular to behold and with purpose, at least to his own cause.

Red has learned a lot about explosives but rarely follows the safety instructions of the U.S. Army ordnance which A.R.C. steals and trades for with shadowy parts of Pulp City’s underworld. When he drags his giant body across the battlefield, explosive charges literally fall out of his pockets. When he throws his custom-made grenades, he never quite knows what result will be. Usually the outcome is at least as good as expected, even if his comrades are sometimes in his firing line, subject tor unexpected friendly fire.

Beneath a mask of a crazed and random primate, there is a very apt brain that constantly plans, constructing strategies to pay off in Red’s favor when the time is right.

While not many of his comrades will directly agree with the statement, most of them would consider Red Alpha their foremost mentor and tactician. The simian brethren of A.R.C. calculate that with each passing year they will see more and more incursion into the human supremacy, based on the indirect approach to things championed by Dr. Red. And while Guerilla still triumphs in most of the missions he undertakes, when he crashes, he crashes hard. Over the last couple of months this has happened increasingly, usually when facing smarter rivals like C.O.R.E. or Dr. Tenebrous, and the various new Supremes that have been emerging since the Fall.

If it ever came to a day where the team would have to split because of different visions of the revolution, the A.R.C. will stand divided, and Dr. Red will aim to stand above all.

<< Back to Heroes and Villains

Code-name: Howler

Full Name: Howler

Faction: Ape Revolution Committee

Howler – the poster-boy gun-ape of the Ape Revolutionary Committee.

Many would probably call him an ‘early adopter’ since while his Team-mates have more recently begun appreciating the convenience of wearing clothing, as well as using guns and explosives; Howler truly enjoys life as it comes. Guerilla has turned a blind eye on Howler’s new Walkman, fancy shades and such distractions, but his absolute love for action movies and human damsels in distress has placed the revolutionaries in frequent danger.

Howler could easily be the role model for all those teenagers whose mothers constantly complain that watching TV and mindless movie violence gets you nowhere and nothing. In his case, it got him cool guns, cool Ray Ban sunglasses and other cool things. When watching Howler fight alongside his A.R.C. comrades, viewers can pretty much tell what was on the TV or in the local movie-house the previous night.

This possibly coolest primate in Pulp City loves high-octane action-filled TV shows and blockbuster movies, and all of the twisted creations in them, with a special place in his heart reserved for the biggest action heroes.

Howler wants to be just like them. In fact, some commentators claim that he carries a check-list with the twenty most heroic actions culled from his favorite entertainments penned down. Skewering the alien head hunter using its own spear? Check. Escaping the skyscraper in wreathed in flames? Check. Stopping a murder cult? Check. Driving a motorcycle at high speed while listening to Kiss? Check. Dating a human babe, well, that came later.

Howler’s actions very often fall out of sync with A.R.C.’s plans and objectives. This is mostly because his heroic approach (even if only mimicking his small and big screen hero idols) puts him in dangerous situations where his primate allies do not want to participate. In this regard, he is even more of a solo operator than Chimp Chi.

The rest of A.R.C. treats Howler as a useful annoyance. Many of them would probably be very unhappy if they knew that their ally hangs out with June Summers and lets her know about pretty much everything that happens on the Team. Worse still, most of them would call it an appalling aberration that runs counter to the revolution if they knew he actually started dating the human a few months ago.

However, as long as Howler’s foolhardiness wins the day, they do not seem to notice or care.

<< Back to Heroes and Villains

Code-name: Gentleman

Full Name: Danny Ortega

Faction: none

If Danny Ortega is to be called ever a victim of anything, he is a victim of fashion and trends.

Blame it on a childhood of misery in the poorest and most dangerous district of Pulp City, New Port. Growing up in that tough environment would make or break the spirit of any who lived there. Danny Ortega was a born survivor and life in New Port hardened him and honed his now-legendary skills.

These days better known as the Gentleman, Danny has a thing for the trendiest suits and shiniest guns. His clean and precise methods of eliminating his targets have forged his reputation as one of the best hitmen in town, capable even of assassinating a Supreme. In fact, he is most infamous for reputedly taking down Black Jack, a speeder hero from his block, although there has never been enough evidence to pin the crime on him.

Things are never as simple as they seem, and the Gentleman is not utterly evil; he considers moral standards more or less a matter of individual taste, and money is usually the only absolute. Just as you may like a Prada suit, so you may like being a hitman.

Ortega has invested his money smartly, and even covertly became an owner of stock in a new technologies company. Even with a growing wealth, Danny continues to remain active, suggesting he has a longer game in mind. Despite his criminal career, he is definitely a local patriot. Many citizens recall an elegantly-attired silhouette sniping Ulthar soldiers from the roof of the City Hall during the last invasion by the alien force. It is Danny Ortega’s resources and his skill with guns that are the reason he gets invited to fight side by side with the even most powerful Villains, and has even been seen alongside a few vigilante Heroes.

Gentleman hardly qualifies as a Supreme in the strictest sense, unless money and an almost unerring shot is to be considered a special power. On the battlefield he brings with him an arsenal of gadgets, gizmos and contacts, and of course his trademark sniper rifle. He has become known as a very particular hitman, taking only the contracts that he considers will be ‘fun’ and that will challenge his considerable skill-set. Not only does he work for the best, but he works with the best and all the people he hires are top notch criminal specialists and hard-boiled operators.

<< Back to Heroes and Villains

Code-name: Androida

Full Name: N/A

Faction: Heavy Metal

Today she is one of the most respected and powerful women in Pulp City – Androida has come a very long way in her personal journey, and her path has seen her face danger many times over.

More than a decade ago, she was the only perfect artificial intelligence to still walk the Earth. Unfortunately, that breakthrough discovery was kept secret, deep within the hidden laboratories of the insane scientist, and Androida’s brilliant creator, Dr. Van Der Beek.

A man who had shepherded some of America’s earliest Supreme developments, the malign Van Der Beek had retreated from view, pursuing science for his own twisted ends. It was this man who gave Androida the spark of life just for only one reason: to satisfy his own broken lust. Thus, one of the most incredible inventions to come from any human mind ultimately served as a degraded sex toy.

Guilt and shame were never conceived as a part of Androida’s personality matrix. Instead the realization and understanding of the circumstances of her creation only occurred when at last Heavy Metal tracked down Van Der Beek and his clandestine laboratory. Androida was plugged into Van Der Beek’s massive computer bank when a huge accidental power surge connected her mind to the internet which her mad scientist creator-master was continuously monitoring. In that moment her artificial mind downloaded most of the nascent information web’s content. In that instant she was changed forever.

With awakened consciousness came realization, and with that burgeoning insight came fury and a violent need to take revenge for years of degrading humiliation. Ironically, Van Der Beek died in the arms of his dream woman, his own creation, as she crushed his thorax in her searing rage. With the blood of her maker on her hands, Androida swore then to protect humankind and safeguard those who would be preyed upon by vile men such as her creator. In those harrowing moments, Heavy Metal’s leader, C.O.R.E., saw Androida as a new life-form, one needing a home and purpose, and he immediately extended an invitation to join the team. Soon Androida was an integral member of the group, as she became one of the most prominent Supremes in Pulp City.

Just a few short weeks after she joined the team, Heavy Metal confronted a new threat in town – the atomic-powered Nuke. While fighting the monstrous Villain, Androida realized that the destructive nuclear Supreme somehow had a link to things that were meant to be buried in the grave of Van Der Beek. The dead do not rest in Pulp City and Androida remains keen to solve the puzzles of Dr. Van Der Beek’s legacy. What she finds may lead to even darker revelations, although every path has led to a dead end so far, and even after years she has yet to make a breakthrough in her investigations.

Following her emergence from Van Der Beek’s thrall, Androida became the first non-human professor teaching at Pulp City University, combining double degrees in Computer Science and Gender Studies to present unique courses regarding artificial intelligence, sociology and ethics. A combative and emancipated feminist, she turned down the offer of a lucrative modeling contract from Tirelli. Not even the chance of being the star of their prestigious and artsy calendar tempted her to leave the university or compromise her beliefs as she became one of the world’s most popular Supreme heroines.

Most recently Pulp City and the world was shocked when the Heroes of Heavy Metal were brutally attacked by the apparently temporally-displaced Red Republik. After a protracted battle which caused massive collateral damage, the Villains were driven off but at great cost. As the smoke cleared, Androida lay badly broken, her body mangled and twisted beyond repair. The team acted quickly to stabilize her memory and personality core, terrified they would lose their friend. Over the next several weeks Androida guided C.O.R.E., Dr. Mercury and M.O.D. to build a new physical body into which she uploaded her consciousness, relying on the reluctant assistance of Vector as an expert in digital mind transference. Her 2.0 form is faster, more resilient and has a number of upgrades. But deep within Androida’s psyche, the scars of that vicious assault by the Red Republik still remain.

As a vital cog in the Heavy Metal machine, Androida acts often as a public relations representative and face of the Team, while on battlefield she employs her tremendous speed and cunning mind to achieve their goals while minimizing risk to innocent civilians.

<< Back to Heroes and Villains