On December 2, 1998 a 25 year old broker born and raised in Paragon City was driving his red sports car down 3rd street when fate, and a truck filled with weapons grade plutonium, crashed into the new 1999 Mustang GT. That day friends, family, and clients no longer knew Max Knoll as a dashing young-blood stockbroker, because that day Max Knoll became the Stocketeer! Now four years latter, the Stocketeer has had no luck with some of the most predominate hero groups in the city.

"I have the most lucrative powers in Paragon, and yet no hero group will touch me with a ten foot pole!" Clamming to have such fantastic abilities as: telepathic links to all the foreign and domestic markets and being able to pull currency from children's ears, hero groups seem to thank that Stocketeer's powers are more of a "mixed blessing" for their ideal missions.

A spokeswomen from Freedom Phalanx told the Beholder that "[we] gave the Stocketeer a chance by testing him out in one of our training arenas, the end result was a very pleased Freakshow doppelganger who was eager to go into pork bellies, the whole AI had to be reprogrammed." She went on to say "we are not in the business to make money, we are in the business to stop evil."

Some heroes may remember the Stocketeer from way back in 2000 when he was videotaped selling vials of his blood to Crey. The Stocketeer had this to say: "Look, if my clone can earn the good people at Crey Industries half-a-trillion dollars in a bear market, just thank what the original could do for Dawn Patrol."

Some would say that gold is the root of all evil, but when a superpowered individual like this is so willing to help the heros of our fair city, should we be so willing to close the door in his face? "One day I found myself inside a hazard zone and I looted this helmet that allows the wearer to turn invisible... now I know a guy who knows a guy who has perfected a way to create duplicate of such an item, but the Midnight Squad won't return my calls! Then some newbie heroes show up in my apartment claiming they had a mission to stop my "evil plotting" about what is a legal financial endeavor. I had like fifty creates of those things, all smashed to pieces."

Whether the Stocketeer's a bad guy or not is certainly arguable. It is clear though that he is at best a gray area, but what shade of gray will this avenger of the bottom line become? Only time can tell.

Paragon City hospitals are experiencing a massive decline in patient number due to the "fear" of what might happen after being admitted, according to a leaked city report. Instead, Paragon citizens are going to "health clinics", often run by unlicensed ex-heroes with healing powers, since it was felt that there was less chance of things going wrong.

Dr Johnny Capra of the Paragon City Central Hospital explains: "Many citizens are wary of going to hospitals due to the number of accidents that happen there. Between exposure to unknown radiation, abduction by mad scientists / alien races, reactions to prototype drugs, giant monster attacks or just plain attempts to play god by some doctors, anything can happen. Just last week there were four reported cases where a citizen was given powers through DNA manipulation and seven other cases of unauthorised experimentation that came to light. And those were just the ones that were caught. No wonder people avoid long hospital stays when they can."

It appears that many citizens instead go to "health clinics", semi-legal facilities where healing superpowers are used to heal the sick. These clinics are legal in Paragon City provided they do not advertise or offer 'full healing' services - it has been recognised that healing powers can be very effective in treating small conditions and injuries, but are less effective versus long-term conditions such as cancer and heart-disease. Most healing clinics are only equipped for short visits and as such are inappropriately equipped to deal with large numbers of medical problems.

Another problem surrounding these clinics include the qualifications of those who offer the healing. Many are ex-heroes that happen to have some kind of healing power but have quit being a hero for some reason - they could have been stripped of their security license or even be injured themselves. Some villains also use these clinics as a front, but often word-of-mouth spreads quickly when citizens start disappearing after attending a clinic.

One clinic owner who did not want to be identified said, "People like the intimacy of my clinic. I do a quick laying on of my healing hands and they feel better. I'm not ripping them off - I'm providing a service. If I can't heal them, I do tell people to go to hospital, but often they just shop around at other clinics until they find someone who can help them or say that they can."

The clinic owner said that most people paid about $50 for a treatment, with one visit usually being enough.

Paragon City Hall has announced that a new program is being developed to attract people back to hospitals, but the details surrounding have not been announced.

Doctor Omega, famous for his continuing battles against multiple hero groups in Paragon City, has just released a controversial autobiography on his life and times. Entitled Nothing Can Stop My Plan From Succeeding Now! (Part One) the autobiography contains information of Doctor Omega's romantic life with some of Paragon City's leading female heroes, including the White Maiden, GameFace and Queen Amazon.

"We may fight sometimes, but which relationship doesn't have problems?" says Doctor Omega about his defeat and subsequent arrest at the hands of Knife's Edge. Doctor Omega claims to have had a long and passionate relationship with Knife's Edge and to be the father of her two children. Knife's Edge has rejected any claim of this paternal link to her children but has refused to comment on Omega's other claims.

"The heroes need the villains and the villains need the heroes. People shouldn't be surprised that romance occurs when you put two people in such a dependent situation," reveals Doctor Omega. "Some of the lady heroes are certainly drawn to the rebellious bad-boy nature of the villain (and visa versa for the males - many a boy scout is seen after hours with a bad girl!) but it is also hard to manage a relationship outside of your superpowered profession. Vigilante heroes will sometimes 'lean' on a villain's paramour to get information, much like the hero's darling being used as bait in the death trap. This doesn't help a budding relationship, nor does having to run off at all hours to rule / save the world. It gets to the point where the only people you spend time with are the people you fight. Love can blossom in such a situation."

Other claims made by Doctor Omega reveal that many heroes are not as competant as they try to appear. "Many times my high-tech plans to rule the world have simply malfunctioned rather than any hero actually stopping me. You'd get the impression that heroes stop me on a regular basis and foil my plans. If this is true, why am I able to come back month after month? For the most part the heroes stop some sideshow plan of mine while I achieve my true goals. I am Doctor Omega and I am unstoppable!"

Hero groups have refused to comment on the book's claims, stating that such ideas are "sad and preposterous". Nothing Can Stop My Plan From Succeeding Now! (Part One) is due for release this month.