In a dramatic battle in the streets of Paragon City, Statesman and team have achieved a stunning defeat over a group of Fifth Column henchmen. The fight was captured on film by a Paragon citizen in the area which the Beholder has managed to acquire.

As seen in the photos, Statesman was clearly out-numbered in the beginning of the conflict yet able to handle himself with ease. Following the arrival of other heroes identified as Apex (male, red costume), War Witch (female, green costume) and Thunderclap (male, blue costume) the Fifth Column contingent was outclassed and quickly mopped up.

It has not been determined what the Fifth Column were doing prior to the intervention of Statesman and team, but Paragon City is certainly glad that these ideological throwbacks were halted before any trouble was caused.

Statesman declined to comment on the action today, saying only that, "This was a sign of things to come."

New heroes appear on the scene to aid Statesman.

(left to right) Apex, War Witch, Thunderclap and Statesman in a team photograph after the fight.

Dakan College, famed learning institution of the superpowered, has suffered major fire damage for the third time in as many months. A fire that started in the Supa Fighta Defenda dormatories spread to other buildings, including the Paranormal Faculty and Genetic Re-engineering Laboratories causing widespread damage.

The fire appears to have been started accidently by a practical joke of the Supa Fighta Defenda fraternity. Bessy Jenkins, a student of the college, says, "Those guys are always playing pranks or indulging in stupid frat events. One of their members called Burnhardt manifested fire control powers and was using them to play jokes on people - singeing hair, making term papers spontaneously combust... dumb stuff like that. He may have tried playing one prank too many!"

Professor Brayne, acting as a spokesman for Dakan College, said the use of powers outside of curriculum subjects was forbidden without permission. "We don't let students play around with their powers outside of college time for obvious reasons. There are stiff penalties for those who break the rules. The college will be investigating what happened and will take the appropriate steps."

The college has suffered other fire damage in recent history - the first from a Paranormal Faculty poltergeist that had escaped and the second from the attempted theft of the Archaeology Department's Staff of Ra.

"This fire has leveled a dormitory and mainly damaged the GR Labs. Given the help of the Department of the Arcane and the Nano-Machine Faculty, we should have things fixed by tommorrow," says Professor Brayne.

No students were reported as injured by the fire, with several fledgling heroes stepping in to aid those in trouble.

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Paragon City Faces Power Problems

by Ashton Burrows

Following the success of "The Osbornes" and other reality television shows PCN has announced "Outcasts", a fly-on-the-wall show examining the day to day lives of the superpowered Outcast family. Each member of the Outcast family has superpowers, yet it is watching "the everyday, pseudo-normal life they lead" that is being touted as the draw for viewers.

Most famous of the Outcast family is Z'thain Dak'zuz aka Outcast, an alien adventurer who was expelled from his home planet and arrived on Earth by accident. Z'thain was an important member of the now disbanded Joyriders, a hero group famed in the 70's for their globetrotting antics. It was during his time in the Joyriders that Z'thain met and married Scarlett Windun, a team-mate and hero in her own right. Scarlett made the unusual step of taking Z'thain's pseudonym of Outcast as her last name rather Dak'zuz, at the time saying, "I can't say that stupid name without spitting all over people, so Outcast it is."

After the Joyriders separated, Z'thain and Scarlett settled in Paragon City to start a family. Between achieving some notable successes as heroes, Z'thain and Scarlett had three children - Emily, Vincent and K'thak. Each child has manifested powers of their own with K'thak, the youngest, recently stopping a Freakshow attack single-handedly.

The Outcasts have attracted the ire of children support groups for their willingness to take their children out on patrol with them, but this has been refuted by the Outcasts. "They are safer with us than anywhere else", says Z'thain. "We show them how to use their powers. They know their enemies weaknesses. We provide a good example of a family." Scarlett adds, "Besides, do you know how hard it is to find a nanny who can deal with three flying teenagers?"

Grant Bowmarshe of the Paragon City Network (PCN) believes that "Outcasts" will be a huge ratings success. "We get to see the heroes out of costume and at home," he says. "You get to see how normal they are, even amongst the most abnormal of circumstances. We think that normal citizens will relate to the Outcasts, despite the differences. Everyone has had their kids bring home someone the parents don't like, but in the Outcast's case it's the son of a former supervillain. Everyone has had arguments with their children, although probably not with lasers like the Outcasts. Still, it's the basic human experience up on screen."

"Outcasts" is expected to go into syndication shortly.