Paragon City soupkitchens and homeless shelters are under seige from an army of base-less heroes looking for a place to stay. Numerous costumed protectors are without a base of operations following the Rikti bombardments that destroyed large sections of Paragon City. These homeless heroes have had no choice but to seek assistance from public welfare programs, which are now buckling under the weight of the increased demand.

Kenneth Anders, a volunteer at the Main Street Shelter, says that he has never seen things get so bad. "In my 25 years helping the less fortunate, I've never seen the shelters so full. You've got one guy's spandex rubbing up against another guy's spandex, and things can get awful tense when these guys are packed in as tight as they are."

"The worst moment was when Crusher McGee accidently stepped on the Ironclad's foot and triggered his self-defence system. You had lasers and missiles going off everywhere! Some of the boys managed to stop him but Ironclad is looking at some hefty bills in repairing his battlesuit."

Some heroes are unable to find accomodation. "I had to sleep on a park bench last night," says Marcus Johnston, aka Flashfire. "Those damn superspeed freaks always manage to get the last beds and they just didn't have any more room. I can keep myself warm, but that's not the point - it's hard to put in a hard day of crimefighting and then only have a park bench to look forward to. It's demotivating."

Mobile soup kitchens have done what they can to feed those without bases, but they are having trouble meeting demand. Padre Albright of Archangel Mission says, "There are so many hungry out on the streets now. I've written to the Paragon City Council for emergency assistance - not just for me, but for all charity groups. I'm still waiting for a response."

Paragon City Hall declined to comment, other than to say they are looking forward to the development of bases for Paragon City Heroes.

In a shocking twist of events the Paragon Beholder has found that some stories within its pages are completely ficticious and lack any logical grounding. It appears that many stories have been developed on the grounds of being "humourous" in nature, although exactly how funny they are is open to question.

The Paragon Beholder promises its readers that all future stories will be fully sourced and checked for authenticity in future editions.

Unless it takes too long.

The first communication from Rikti forces since their defeat one month ago has revealed they are still intent on dominating Earth. "All your planet are belong to us!" was the closing remark made in an unexpected official address by the Rikti commander yesterday. It appears that the Rikti still haven't mastered english as a language, but there was no lack of clarity in the Rikti's stated intentions.

Other important points contained within the Rikti commander's broadcast included "Somebody set us up the bomb!", possibly alleging sabotage was responsible for Earth's victory and "You are on the way to destruction Earthlings: What you say!!" along with other badly worded yet ominous-sounding statements.

Military officials and superhero groups have made no announcements about the message and are not expected to formally reply.

Welcome to the launch of The Paragon Beholder, a newspaper that aims to report the important events that happen in Paragon City. Contributions are being sought from all those who are interested - please have a look at the Submission Guidelines and the contents of the pages to gain an idea of what we want to run. If you've got an idea, send it in!

I hope you enjoy what the Beholder offers!

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Today's Top Stories:

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In a generous agreement made yesterday, Crey Industries' Pharmaceutical and Vitamin Examinations (PAVE) has accepted responsibility for providing lunches and vitamin supplements for all the school children in Paragon City. This move will reduce education costs to Paragon City by a third while providing yet more kudos to Crey Industries for their generousity.

At an announcement held on the steps of City Hall the Director of PAVE, John Harmond, expressed his desire to see children everywhere growing up healthy and obedient after being raised on a diet of PAVE supplements. "Our drug technology is world-class and we are willing to push the boundries of what vitamins can do for the human body. This deal will allow us to guarantee a brighter future for the school children of Paragon, ensuring they receive the maximum doses (and then some) of everything required for healthy development."

City officials also expressed satisfaction with the deal. "This arrangement with Crey Industries will save the tax payers' money and has freed up much needed capital to repair the city after the Rikti invasion. It's a win / win situation!"

There was some disruption to the announcement as the Local Lunch Ladies and Lunch Gentlemen Guild (LLLLGG) protested the announcement, saying it would lead to a loss of jobs and that there were no guarantees that PAVE could keep food quality to same high standard as the LLLLGG's members. The demonstration was cut short by John Harmond who offerred all unemployed LLLLGG members better paying jobs at Crey Industries, stating "Crey always need new employees for our special projects."

Mr Hamond finished the announcement by stating, "With this agreement, Crey will pave the way for a brighter and better future for all of us. They will pave the way to a finer world!"

Parent groups have cautiously approved the deal, but are waiting to see what the PAVE "Happy Funtime Lunches O' Sunshine" actually contain before fully accepting it.