Patrons were sent running for their lives at a local food hall as an experimental organic buffet went rogue and started attacking those who fed upon it. Several hero squads had to be dispatched in order to bring the buffet under control.

"It was horrible," says Neal Daedal who was in the hall at the time. "I was just going up for some more crispy wedges when these tentacles just sprouted from nowhere and these eyes appeared. The buffet then tried to have me for lunch! I am certainly not coming back here!"

The buffet is question is the first in a range of organic self-replenishing buffets and bain maries that has been released by Crey subsidiary Good Food Corp. Advertising for these products promises that the serving areas "will never run out of any food" since the organic processes inside "ensure that as food is taken, it is replaced". Organic components fed into the buffet are broken down and recombined to form whatever foods the owner desires - french, cooked meats and multiple salads are all options.

A Good Food Corp spokesman has announced a full investigation into the incident. "We are appalled that such a thing could happen with one of our products. Our findings on this matter shall be made public and we shall make sure that it never happens again."

The spokesman declined to comment on claims that the organic technology used in the buffet were reverse-engineered from Rikti sources.

Patrons involved in the attack have started to bring a class action lawsuit for emotional damages since "almost being eaten by your own food is enough to scare the curd out of anyone."

A self-replenishing buffet table goes postal and attacks a hero.

A street sports program being run by ordinary citizens is responsible for a 58% drop in crime in the surrounding suburbs and a newfound feeling of safety in nearby areas. Open Basketball, played outdoors at the old Star Central courts, has attracted the involvement of many current Freakshow members in a legal activity that has seen them start to drift away from a life of crime.

Chuck Carter set up the program about three months ago and was himself surprised by its results. "I could see a lot of idle youths hanging around the area, slowly getting deeper and deeper into bad things just as something to do. Given my past experience both playing ball and coaching it, I thought I could do something for them. So, I set up some games, paid for some whistles and some basketballs, and off I went. I never thought I'd be getting full Freakshow-ers down here playing though."

Mary Parker has helped Mr Carter to set things up and is encouraged by the results. "These aren't bad kids, but they need to know that. After a while they just get used to breaking the law as a way of life. We're here to try and show them that a little bit of something else exists while helping those who want to get out of that lifestyle. For those who just want to play basketball, well, they can do that to."

Pick-up game are constantly played between teams that can comprise of heroes, villains or citizens. A 'no powers' rule is strictly enforced to try to keep things fair. Occasionally things spin out of control - Mr Carter reveals that a few rough fouls have sometimes led to full-court brawls - but for the most part the players listen to the whistle of the referee while good-naturedly trash talking the opposition. Once on court, costumes don't matter; it all comes down to how well you play.

Alfred Pennyweather was known as Slashen Burn before he started playing Open Basketball. "I was all about da fightin' and da' lootin'. Den I started playing b-ball with Mr Carter and he show'd me d'another way," says Mr Pennyweather, who has since ceased being a member of Freakshow and is currently putting his cybernetically attached blades to use as an apprentice butcher.

There has been some resistance by existing villain groups to the program. "Drek or Dred or whoever he calls himself came down here to scare us off," says Ms Parker. "I got used to dealing with his sort when I was with my husband, god rest his soul, but it looked like things could go sour any moment. Mr Carter had a word to him though, and he laughed and took off. Hasn't been back since."

Mr Carter said of the incident, "I simply said he was welcome to play, but he probably wasn't ever going to be an umpire on my court."

Citizens from other crime impacted areas are looking at the Open Basketball program to see if it can be applied elsewhere.

Riots have errupted outside of Paragon City theatres and cinemas with the announcement that all available tickets for The Matrix Reloaded have sold out for the next two weeks. Angry crowds of people, some of whom had been camped out for several weeks have gone on a rampage that has seen the need for heroes to intervene.

As a ticket salesperson working at Paragon Central Theatres, Jody Kalakov got to see the crowds rage first hand. "We had a lot of internet pre-orders along with a lot of people buying buying the maximum amount of tickets," she explains as a reason for the shortage. "It just came to the point where we didn't have any more to sell. I told the crowd that we were sold out for the foreseeable future and things just turned ugly."

"There were some mutterings in the crowd, then people started to throw things - they started small and got bigger. I was protected in my booth until they started throwing bricks and then I got so scared... Luckily Mister Quick was in the area and saved me!"

Miss Kalakov's experiences were duplicated at other ticket sale venues across the city. Having caused large amounts of damage to the movie theatres, the mobs started to move out onto Paragon City streets and causing mayhem as they went. Chanting "Neo! Neo!" as they went, the rioters broke windows, damaged cars and looted property. Heroes in the area had some successes in stemming the damage caused by the mobs but were caught off guard by the sudden escalation of citizen violence.

"It was pretty bad," says Ironclad of today's events. "Fighting citizens is hard - it's not like they can take a power punch. And there were so many of them. It took a little while to bring things back under control."

Large scale hero group action did see the riot quelled in all parts of the City, with most of the stolen property being returned. No major injuries were reportedly incurred during the riot, despite the use of baseball bats and knives by some of the rioters.

A Freedom Phalanx spokesman has reported they are looking for any evidence of outside mind control on the citizens involved in the riot.

Heroes face down angry Matrix fans.