SIDEKICKS INCORPORATED

HISTORY

Sidekicks Incorporated is a subsidiary of the non-profit foundation that backs the hero team Justice Incorporated. A sister corporation to Heroes Incorporated, Sidekicks Incorporated provides support services to super-hero teams and law enforcement agencies. Sidekicks Inc. was part of Justice Inc. leader Mindblade's desire to provide services to groups and governments that were not equipped to deal with some superhuman threats. Heroes Incorporated was set up to provide super-hero resources to municipalities and other governments, or anyone else in need of superhuman assistance. Sidekicks Inc. on the other hand is primarily a support organization, offering services like research and information gathering and technical support to individual super-heroes, super teams, and governments who may not have access to those sorts of resources normally. Is your small town being attacked by a masked villain and you need to know if he has any weaknesses? No local branch of S.T.A.R. Labs to help you understand some strange alien technology you've discovered? Then Sidekicks Inc. is ready to help you.

The Sidekicks organization is fairly decentralized. While it is nominally based out of the Justice Tower building in New York City, there are regional offices across the continental United States to provide rapid response to requests for assistance. The name Sidekicks Inc. was chosen to reflect the support role it provides, but when recruiting team members for the organization Mindblade makes an effort to pick individuals with experience in superhuman affairs, many of whom wind up being former superhero sidekicks.

One of the more prominent regional offices is located in Superior City, and the staff is made up of a quartet of former sidekicks. While they generally act in the normal support role provided by Sidekicks Inc., all four are still capable and will occasionally go out in the field again, especially Speedshatter.

PAUL HAWKINS

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

As a teenager Paul Hawkins became the sidekick of the crossbow-wielding vigilante marksman called Quarrel. Known as Scattershot, Paul battled criminals in Superior City alongside Quarrel during the forgotten era of costumed crimefighters a few decades prior to the Modern Age of Heroes. After Quarrel was killed by the murderous Dr. Trap, Paul gave up his heroic identity and returned to a normal life. He still felt a desire to do good and after graduating university he joined the Central Bureau of Intelligence, working alongside veteran agent King Faraday.

After nearly twenty years as a field agent, Paul was recalled and assigned to a desk job when his superiors felt he was too old for field work. Paul tired of being behind a desk and, desiring to do more he left the agency. He briefly worked with Checkmate, but left after the shakeups caused by the Janus Directive. After trying his hand as a freelance intelligence operative for a few years Paul was eventually tracked down by Mindblade, who was seeking people like Paul to join his new Sidekicks Inc. initiative. When Mindblade explained what the organization would be doing, and the sort of assignments Paul might encounter with it, the former sidekick decided to sign up. As one of the more experienced employees, Mindblade was hoping Paul would head up the main branch in New York City, but he instead chose to return to his old home of Superior City to head up the regional office there.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Paul has been an uncanny marksman since he was a teenager, able to hit a bullseye with almost any ranged weapon. As Scattershot he preferred to use a custom-built long-range slingshot that could fire a variety of trick projectiles from conventional steel shot to ones that generated smoke screens or ones that were mini-grenades, among others. Under Quarrel's tutelage Scattershot became a skilled acrobat and learned basic detective skills. Paul had exceptionally keen eyesight, an attribute that helped him find and identify targets, and which is still well above average having not deteriorated with age.

As a field intelligence agent Paul was trained in stealth and espionage techniques as well as receiving combat training in firearms and martial arts. After transitioning from field work Paul became an intelligence analyst and later a profiler before leaving the CBI. In addition to heading up the Sidekicks Inc. office, Paul is also its primary analyst, criminal profiler and forensics expert for the team.

JASON SINCLAIR

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

A teenage genius, Jason was studying at a university level while still in high school, mastering several subjects. He was also a gifted athlete, playing on several teams in school. Jason caught the attention of the hero Paragon, who recruited him as a protegé. Jason fought crime alongside Paragon as the teen hero Edge, and was an honorary member of the Centurions alongside fellow teen hero Whiz Kid. The two teens were the only known survivors of the hero team following the events of the Legends crisis and both wound up abandoning their heroic identities and leaving Superior City.

Jason went on to his continue his studies, earning multiple degrees in science and engineering before being recruited to S.T.A.R. Labs and joining the Chicago branch. He conducted research into advanced technologies, frequently helping analyze alien technologies recovered from encounters with super-heroes. Despite the challenges presented with his work, Jason was bored and in some ways missed the excitement of his time as a hero himself. When Mindblade tracked him down and offered the position with Sidekicks Inc., Jason readily agreed. At first he was unsure about returning to Superior City, but realized he had to confront his demons at some point and so chose that location to go to.

Since coming back to Superior City, Jason has been reunited with his former crimefighting friend Whiz Kid, who now went by the name Speedshatter. At Jason's invitation Speedshatter has joined the Sidekicks Inc. office in Superior, and one one of their first assignments together the two helped the heroes of the city take down the Centurions' old archenemy Carnage and his stop his evil plan.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Jason is a genius with a photographic memory and the ability to pick up new knowledge at a fast rate. He was studying at a university level while in high school and by his late-twenties had earned multiple PhDs in science and engineering. A talented inventor since childhood, Jason has a knack with understanding advanced technologies, including alien ones that are far ahead of modern levels. Though he did not pursue them academically after his heroic career ended, Jason was a skilled detective and well trained in criminology and forensic science.

As a young man Jason was a talented athlete and stayed in peak physical condition during his super her career. He has not maintained that level of conditioning since leaving super heroics behind, but he is still an above average athlete in track and field and gymnastics. Jason has also kept up his martial arts studies, and has not lost much of his skill with a variety of weapons.

Jason serves as the science and technology expert for the Sidekicks Inc. branch of Superior City, and acts as the backup intelligence analyst assisting the branch head and chief analyst, Paul Hawkins.

DANIEL ROBERTSON

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

While he is a former sidekick, Daniel Robertson differs from his co-workers in that he was the sidekick to a super villain, not a super hero. As a teenager, Daniel had run away from home and was living on the street in Superior City, stealing to survive. One day he pickpocketed a strange looking necklace from a man on the street, a man that turned out to be the villainous extra-dimensional sorcerer called Doctor Dimension. The Doctor soon tracked down the errant thief, but rather than punish Daniel the villain, impressed by the boy's spirit, offered to take him as an apprentice. Seeing it as a way off the streets more than anything else, Daniel agreed.

Doctor Dimension used his sorcery to grant Daniel demonic power, transforming the young man into Hellspawn. As Hellspawn, Daniel assisted Doctor Dimension on several of the villain's subsequent schemes, frequently coming into conflict with the heroic Centurions. Eventually Daniel came to realize how evil the sorcerer was, and realized that his own immortal soul was in danger if he kept using the demonic power that Doctor Dimension had given him. During the pair's next confrontation with the Centurions, Daniel turned on Doctor Dimension allowing the heroes to thwart his latest scheme and finally capture the villain.

The Centurions helped Daniel purge himself of the demonic power and, because of his assistance, they put in a good word for him with the authorities. Because most of his actions as Hellspawn had involved magic and other dimensions, Daniel had not committed any actual felonies and he was only sentenced to community service. With the support of the Centurions he went back and finished high school, then went off to further his studies. Daniel's experience had made him curious about the occult so he pursued that as his area of study, becoming an an expert though not a practitioner of the magical arts and related phenomenon. Daniel started building a reputation for himself in magical circles as an occult investigator, a reputation that eventually brought him to the attention of Mindblade. Feeling an occult expert would be a useful addition to the organization he was building, the hero offered Daniel a position with the newly created Sidekicks Inc. For his part Daniel saw the benefits of the resources being part of such an organization would provide him, and the opportunities to put his knowledge and skills to good use, so he quickly accepted the offer.

POWERS & WEAPONS

As Hellspawn, Daniel could conjure and project magical fire. When using his powers Hellspawn took on a red-skinned, almost skeletal appearance, surrounded by an aura of fire. Since giving up his demonic powers Daniel had dedicated himself to the study and investigation of the occult, becoming an expert in the field. Though he no longer needs them to survive on the streets, Daniel's pickpocketing and other street-level thief skills still come in handy from time to time when dealing with the occult so he keeps them from getting rusty.

SPEEDSHATTER

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

As a teenager, Michael Lester was known as Whiz Kid, the sidekick of the hero Apex, and was a member of the hero team, the Centurions. He had mostly given up his heroic identity to attend university, but donned the Whiz Kid costume one last time to help Edge defeat the villainous Animus during the Legends crisis; however during the same crisis the rest of the Centurions were nearly wiped out. Guilty over his perceived abandonment of his friends and his failures to live up to the heroic ideal of his mentor, Michael abandoned his Whiz Kid identity, quit university, and set off on a journey of self-discovery.

Michael eventually joined a monastic sect where he trained in the martial arts in an effort to assuage his guilt and control his internal rage. He has since left the monastery and come back to Superior City where he has adopted the heroic identity of Speedshatter. Shortly after returning he contacted his old friend Jason, formerly Edge, who had recently joined Sidekicks Inc. Jason invited Michael to join him and the two helped relieve some of their mutual guilt when they helped the heroes of Superior City defeat the Centurions' old archenemy Carnage and his thwart his master plan of revenge on the city. It was during this that Michael learned that his old mentor Apex had survived and was now the hero Aegis. Aegis has recently decided to form a new Centurions team and has asked Speedshatter to join him.

POWERS & WEAPONS

Since first gaining the ability to move at superspeed as a teenager, Speedshatter has increased his power level and control almost exponentially. Thanks to his studies Speedshatter has learned to tap into the Speed Force, the extra-dimensional force that powers most super speedsters. He now has a top speed of nearly 600,000 miles per hour, fast enough to travel around the Earth in under three minutes, and his reflexes and reaction times are many thousands of times faster than the average human being. Speedhatter has learned to control his internal vibrations to the degree that he can phase his body through solid objects, and with precisely controlled movements he can use his speed to generate powerful gusts of wind he can direct in any direction he chooses. Speedshatter's metabolism is also accelerated and he can use this to heal from injuries at a far faster rate than normal.

From his time studying martial arts at the monastery Michael has become a master of Kung Fu. Not only is he the equivalent of a multi-level black belt but Speedshatter has learned to focus his speed power into his strikes, allowing him to deliver blows that can shatter solid steel. Michael is also a reasonably skilled mechanic and electrician.

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