Velveteen

[Vith]

Sometime far in the future, on VH1's 'Behind the Mask'Because they never play music anymore

Nearly five years ago in the mystical land of Southern California, a brand new drug dubbed 'Perfection' has hit the streets of a couple upscale communities, spreading like wildfire. Why you ask? Because it does everything. Need a study aid? Need a little edge for you next football game? Feeling a little down? This wonderdrug would take care of it! And the (seeming) lack of side-effects made most kids view it as an upscale version of caffeine pills. Helpful, but not dangerous if you're careful.

Where did this come from you ask? Well, an evil pharmacutical company! Well, ok so it wasn't really EVIL. But it wasn't exactly oozing goodness either. Originally 'Perfection' had been a contract with a government to develop some safe stimulants to give their troops. Unfortunately, though it showed promise long term use slowly turned the user into a dessicated husk with a distinct lack of drive. Alive but, well nearly catatonic. Not exactly what was ordered, so the project was shut down.

One scientist, an underling really, desperate for the recognition he so surely deserved(not), decided to continue experimenting in secret, cleverly . But where to get subjects? The answer was obvious(to this sociopath anyway), entitled wealthy kids who's sole goal in life was to be better than everyone else(the whole lot of them reminded the scientist of his bosses. Underserving of what they had!). Cleverly fudging some numbers when ordering chemicals, hire some punks and... voila! Instant guinea pigs.

Granted, results were rather vague considering they generally consisted of 'This batch was great!' and 'This batch made everyone barf!' but there was definite improvement. Really, the scientist might have had a bright future if he'd found a way to continue experimenting that didn't involve children. But alas... But anyway, he also put tracers into the little cocktail. (Slightly)Radioactive nanites that were rather primitive and were flushed out of the subject's system. Their sole purpose was to 'call home' if they lasted beyond the estimated max time the drug was supposed to affect someone.

'Lo and behold! One day(well, one 'couple of months but that doesn't have the same ring) Five different teens suddenly appeared on his radar. These kids not only kept the drug in their system, their body seemed to adapt to it, albeit in different ways. One became strong, one tough, one smart, one fast, and one could heal really well. This was a huge breakthrough, Mister Mad Pharmacist just had to study them!

Unfortunately, he couldn't go see them himself, as that could tip someone off when they disappeared. So he had his dealers hire some 'guys they knew'. To catch those pesky kids for him. They made their move on halloween, managing to trick and capture all of them and then made the mistake of loading them into the same van. Realizing what was going on the costumed teenagers busted free rather quickly and subdued their would-be kidnappers. Videos from cellphones quickly made them a hit, with the misinterperetation that the kidnappers were gangbangers on a drive by or something. It was never actually clear. Luckily their costumes kept them from being identified.

So you could say that the 'Superstars' rise to fame started with them saving themselves.

The kids laid low for a couple weeks after that, keeping in touch and slowly figuring out what was going on and giddy with their sudden fame(even if they couldn't admit to it). None of them quite remember who actually spoke the idea out loud, but they decided to fight the good fight and became heroes. Unfortunately, kids being kids they named their team 'Superstars' and had many grand adventures, gaining a colorful rogues gallery that included a certain Pharmacist with an inferiority complex.

Their varied abilities meshed well and they actually became quite good at being super heroes. Becoming well known even outside their state and actually saving the world once(though, after a certain amount of time in the game, who hasn't?). Things weren't all rainbows and happy times though, they took some flak for 'selling out' getting a PR agent and merchandising while only giving part to charity and keeping the rest for themselves.

It's not like they were greedy or anything! They made sure that it didn't interfere with them actually helping people. And they needed the money for gadgets, costumes, and college! Not that the public really listened to that part.

And then there was the mission that earned them a 'too reckless to work with' with the government types. Some agency consisting of only 3 letters asked them to rescue a hostage without being seen. 'Get in, get the hostage, get out, and DON'T BE SEEN' was the exact words. They got in and got the hostage just fine, but then fumbled the 'Don't be seen bit' having to fight their way out. They succeeded though! Rescuing the hostage and surviving... if just barely. Still, it was a black mark that would haunt them for the rest of their careers.

And the gossip rags were a constant pest. Scandal sells and what's an easier mark than 5 teenagers running around in funny outfits and punching people?

Most of the team had grown rather tired of it all by the time they graduated highschool. Strongman and Toughguy decided to join the military, The Brains opted to play a 'long game' in saving the world, nudging events and building stuff to make the world a better place, and Healy dude decided to simply retired. Yes he could heal any injury but it still hurt. And he was tired of getting shot.

One member decided to stay in the game though. Lacy Lupin 'The Rabbit', 'cute' member of the team and all-around bouncy spazz. Her solo career did not start well, as fighting on your own is a lot harder than fighting with a team. not to mention the lawsuit...

You see, that halloween nearly half a decade ago, she'd been dressed up as a certain type of Bunny waitress. And while her costume had quickly morphed into a full body suit that was much more practical for crimefighting, she'd quickly pinged the radar of a certain adult magazine, who'd issued cease and desist orders.

During a legal battle that was more savage than any alien invasion the team had faced the magazine slipped and made a mistake. They'd offered to cut a deal if she would pose for them, not realizing she was underage. With this Bunny's lawyers managed to (quietly, as their PR guy didn't want them to ruin their image with this stuff) get the magazine to back off.

But her real age came out during the discussions and for 3 years the the magazine tycoon and his cadre of lawyers bided their time, plotting and planning.

Though her costume bore little to no resemblance of their trademarked outfit, they managed to use enough legal technicalities and threw enough money at judges to get a case. One that obviously wouldn't win, but they had a different plan in mind. A war of attrition. Locking Bunny's public accounts up and managing to get a ban on her costumed self's likeness until the proceedings finished, they simply stalled for time, figuring she would cave and accept their 'deal'.

Offers of help poured in from all over. But Lacy turned them all down. Her heroing wasn't doing that well, too many nostalgic memories attached to the costume and she DID want to go to college. Besides, she was assured they wouldn't actually win the suit. So she dropped it all and decided to go to college someplace far away, figuring by the time she got back everything would be resolved.

She wasn't going to stop heroing of course, but 'The Bunny' was done, at least for now. Leaving a long 'Goodbye for now' letter(filled with hints as to her new super moniker) on a bunch of message boards her fans ran she headed out to Freedom City, figuring if she could make it solo there, she could make it solo anywhere.