The year was 2009 when the terrifying Qularr attacked Earth yet again. Much news was made of Millennium City being caught within a dome and the actions of heroes there, but it was hardly the only locale attacked. Many major cities were encased, or just plain taken at the time. Woe betide those that didn't have heroes of their own.
And while the focus was on the bigger cities, smaller towns were also besieged. True, the forces that took them were small, but the Qularr really didn't need much to take them either. In one such town in Minnesotta, a group of young teens found themselves right in the eye of the storm. They should have been killed or (at best) held prisoner, but their town had been selected for a very specific purpose.
The collection of human DNA samples and testing of same. After all, it was the superpowers that humans had exhibited that caught the Qularr's attention in the first place. Qularr Geno-Scientist may or may have not over reahed his authorty when he began to tamper with the genetic structure of the humans. The mutations were meant to be gradual. Instead, perhaps due to some nearby Qularr energy source from another system entirely, their abilities were triggered.
First hit, though he didn't realize it, was C.B. As a kid, Charlie didn't have the best life. Despite his best efforts, he always seemed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. He wanted to be a good athlete and played baseball regularly, was surprisingly good at spelling bees, and had natural leadership potential (Despite being overly quick to trust). Yet none of this seemed to win him any respect for his peers because in the end, he almost always seemed to wash out. The fact that his father seemed to have time to be a barber to everyone else, but left his son's own hair near bald out of efficiency didn't help much either with the social situation. His teenage years had started to turn around as he filled out a bit, but not by much. Torn between the conflicting insecurity and hope, it's unknown if he would have remained life's punching bag or not.
The experiment changed that. "C.B." (Folks apparently decided to shorten things on him) had his mutation activated. Always a jinx and loser before, suddenly nature seemed to provide a reason why. Suddenly, instead of having nothing but bad luck, he could bring bad luck to others, and while it went a little wild at first, he could control it! Chance seemed to turn on those who were trying to harm him and foil their best laid plans. It was chiefly due to his power that some of the restraining devices on them failed in the first place. When the teens later were picking out super names, the others dubbed him Jinx. He wasn't crazy about it, but it sure beats his old nickname of Blockhead.
C.B's best friend, certainly his best male friend, is Linus. A highly intelligent young boy with an interest in theology and spiritual matters, Linus had to use his wits to avoid the wrath of his temperamental and mercurial older sister. It didn't help that he relied on a litteral security blanket for many years and even as a teenager considered it a lucky charm. Still, he was handy with it. Anyone picking a towel fight with him while he was so armed soon regretted it. When he was altered, much was explained. Suddenly he could use not just his blanket as a weapon or tool, but almost anything he could get his hands on! He could use garbage lids as shields, lead pipes like a bo-stick, or just about anything else. His prefered weapon is his now chemially altered blanket which has been turned into a cape and cowl. He calls himself "Mantle".
If there is a rival for Linus' status as C.B.'s best friend, it is Patricia Reinhardt. "Patty" as she prefers to be called was the tomboy of all tomboys. This is most likely due to her having only her father to raise her most of her life, but there is no doubt her love of sports often considered to be "Guy turf" was genuine. She and "Chuck" frequently played against each other as kids, but were friends none theless. As she got older, she found herself more conflicted and attracted to C.B., but seemed to be unsure where to go with the attraction. She was even less sure what to do with her powers when they came. She had begun to produce an almost perfumed scent that , when she focused, allowed her to control people in crude ways (She's gotten better with practice) mostly stimulating base emotions. It could instead simply cause one to get sleepy. Fortunately, it worked on aliens as well as humans, so it did turn out to be useful. The others dubbed her what she smells like, "Mint."
Lucy is the older sister of Mantle. For a time, the nicest thing you could say about her was that she was an ambitious girl of closely held opinions and little reluctance to share same. A bit of a bully (or perhaps more than a bit depending on who you ask) her forceful personality did, nonetheless, often motivate others for good or ill. When she became a teenager, she didn't improve much. Her interest in psychiatry (mostly because of the money it would bring) would have made her an excellent manipulator if coupled with growing attractiveness. Yet, while still crabby, Lucy's negative traits became positive ones in escaping from the Qularr as she bulled the others into not giving up! No one picked on her friends or family but HER after all. Oddly, despite her apparent disdain for C.B., she seemed to repeatedly thrust him into the leadership position demanding "Okay, Blockhead, what now?" Unlike her brother, there is absolutely nothing subtle about her powers. While she pretends to be a delicate princess, she is the 'brick' of the group with a devastating right punch. While she doesn't care for it, the others dubbed her "Pow!" for obvious reasons.
Marcie is Patty's best friend. Oddly formal where her friend is laid back, studious where Patty is athletic (Though Patty has gotten her more involved in athletics herself), and seeming introverted yang to Patty's yin; Marcie was a calm voice of reason save for the few times she finally lost all patience, and even then few could deny it was coming. Like Patty, she had/has a crush on CB, calling him "Charles" when few others would. Perhaps her nearsightedness was of interest to the Qularr, for they focused on her eyes. She escaped from her tormenters with vision that would put an eagle to shame, and the ability to send powerful blasts of energy from them. Picking a handle codename, she went with Squint, perhaps because it rhymes with Mint. She feels a bit naked without her glasses even now, and decided to keep wearing the frames (With non corrective lenses) when not in costume. As she explained to Mint, "it worked for Christopher Reeve, sir."
Others were transformed as well. Pow! insisted that if they were going to have powers and fight an alien invasion, they should get costumes. Some think she was worried for her loved ones safety, most suspect she was thinking a long term trademark deal. Either way, the small unit of aliens found itself in over its head against suddenly superpowered teenagers in their midsts. By the time the army had arrived: The invasion had been foiled, Schultztown had been liberated, and the colorful young teens that the press dubbed "The Gallery" vanished before they could be asked to register.
Yet whenever villains or criminals came to town assuming that the 'mid sized town' would be easy pickings, the Gallery members, either together or solo, would make their presence known to foil them. Add to that the various monsters made by the Qularr that now live in the wilds, and the teens have definitely had to keep their hands in. It's now almost three years after the invasion, putting them into their mid teens around 15-16 in age.
Of course, the dynamics have changed since then and new troubles have arisen, ones they may not be prepared for....
(To be continued?)
