<div class="floatleft">(http://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj499/MzHyde/PunchHisFace_zps5b16ed96.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 16pt;"><strong>"Hello America! Chad Thorpe here, and... welcome! To the first day of events, here... on The Hero Project!"</strong></span><br/><br/>Chad delivered his introduction in practiced manner, giving just the right amount of pauses for maximum drama. He smiled his TV-friendly smile at the camera and on the other side of TV's everywhere, viewers smiled back. The contestants, on the other hand, were starting to detect something very punchable about his face. It was like someone drew a smile on a rotten beehive and put it on camera. He'd always seemed much nicer while watching him than in person. The magic of television could certainly work wonders. Chad's infinite punchability didn't dull the contestants' spirits, though, as the atmosphere was charged with excitement over the first day's events. The wake-up they had received was anything but fun, however.<br/><br/>It started at six a.m. in the morning. A loud buzzer rang through the manor, startling people awake. Some contestants had partied by the pool all night and nearly fell out of poolside lounge chairs. Others had managed to bunk up together, sitting bolt upright next to their partner. A rare few went to bed alone, though that didn't mean that they didn't have their share of fun. The home audience had seen a lot that previous night, it had more in common with 'Girls Gone Wild' than anything else.<br/><br/>The heroes had been told to dress and ushered into an elevator tucked into a corner of the manor. When they stepped out they found themselves in a highly sophisticated control room that overlooked a massive, white-walled, empty room. From there they were divided into two groups of ten. On one side of the room; Shockwave, Muerta, High Voltage, Paladin, The Merry Prankster, Thorn, Dragon's Ire, The Green Gale, Downpour, and Rho. On the other side; Rodeo, Maximum, The Fury, Wraith, The Todd, Patriot, Lash, Totenkreuz, Siren, and Blue Magic. The Todd was already in full swing, flirting with any woman next to him.<br/><br/>"I guess you were busy last night!" Chad held up a tablet showing the morning's headlines, the front page displaying a full-color image of Muerta and The Green Gale in the nude, sharing a passionate kiss. They'd been nice enough to stop just above the nipples, the media not showing any of the good parts. The caption below read 'Heroes Gone Wild!'<br/><br/>"But the time for fun is now over, contestants. Today you face your first challenge Don't worry, though, it's not too hard. Let me show you what you'll be doing today. Judges?"<br/><br/><em>'Ready.'</em>Recoil's quiet voice over the loudspeaker. Chad motioned to the window overlooking the big empty room. Down below, the contestants could see both Recoil and HercuLina, the latter looking resplendent in her golden gladiatorial armor and the former dressed in her usual olive green jacket and casual clothes. The room suddenly shifted, seeming to pixelate and then return to clarity. The room seemed to expand and grow, becoming not a stale and empty box, but a busy city block. In the center, a building recognizable as a bank. Several monitors around the observation window show the inside of the structure: it's being robbed. Four armed and masked thugs are shaking down the place, two of them watching over hostages while two more rob tellers.<br/><br/>"Go!" shouts Chad.<br/><br/>In an instant, the two Paragons sprang into action. Recoil ascended a ladder at the side of the building while Lina waited outside, arms crossed. As Recoil reached the top of the building, she crouched beside an intake vent and seemed to be reaching into her jacket. She dropped something into the vent and about five seconds later there was shouting coming from the building, the cameras showing the inside filling with smoke. This was HercuLina's cue, the golden heroine dashing in through the front, the smoke used to obscure her approach to guarantee the safety of the hostages. She disarmed and subdued the robbers with blinding speed and brutal efficiency, the last one hitting the ground as the smoke clears.<br/><br/>"Just shy of thirty seconds! Amazing time!" announces Chad for the camera, "But that's not all! There's always a getaway driver! Looks like he's fleeing! ...or is he?"<br/><br/>And indeed, tires squeal as a car hidden down an alley on the other side of the building peels away. Suddenly, there's a loud thud. The camera shifts. Recoil has jumped from the building and landed on the roof of the car. What happens next is a feat of acrobatics that has to be seen to be believed. She grabs the hood of the car by the passenger's side door, balances on her hands, turns, then swings herself down, kicking through the side window and planting her boots into the side of the driver's face. The force of the blow causes the driver's side door to open and sends the thug rolling across the street. Meanwhile, Recoil's momentum has sent her through the busted passenger's side window, the white-haired heroine sliding smoothly through the gap and landing in the driver's seat. She quickly jams on the breaks and slides the car to a stop before killing the engine.<br/><br/>Click. Chad stops the timer. "Just under two minutes! Now that's how The Olympians do it!"<br/><br/>The setting in the room returns to an empty expanse of white and both judges walk out of sight. The elevator doors ding seconds later, the two women having ridden it up from below. Both of them step out, HercuLina coming to stand before The Todd's group, while Recoil stands with arms crossed in front of Shockwave and the rest. Chad grins and motions to the judges. "Big round of applause!"<br/><br/>After it dies down, he continues, "You'll notice you're divided into two groups for this. Group A," he motions to Shockwave and company, "will be judged by Recoil. Group B will be judged by HercuLina. The group with the highest average will win today's prize; brand new costumes, custom-made to your specifications with the aid of our designers and artiststs! In the case of tech-based heroes, you'll get to consult with our team of scientists and engineers to help re-fit, tune-up, and re-design anything you want! But it's not all prizes today, because two contestants are going to be eliminated tonight! The pair with the judges like best will win immunity, everyone else is in danger of being voted out!"<br/><br/>Chad suddenly grins, "Oh, did I say pair? I did! Let me explain! You're going to be doing this just like Recoil and HercuLina here! Everyone is being paired up and tackling that same scenario! Your goal is to neutralize the robbers with as little collateral and personal damage possible! You'll also be graded on time and showmanship!" Chad grinned again. "With the rules out of the way, let's see how you're paired up!"<br/><br/>Various cheers and groans erupt from the contestants as everyone turns to look at a bank of monitors lighting up with names displayed. You look upon the side where your group's teams are displayed.<br/><br/><div align="center"><strong>ELEC AND TECH:</strong> High Voltage and Paladin<br/><strong>EMOTION AND SCIENCE:</strong> The Merry Prankster and Rho<br/><strong>DEATH AND LIFE:</strong> Muerta and Thorn<br/><strong>NATURE AND THE MIND:</strong> The Green Gale and Shockwave<br/><strong>FIRE AND WATER:</strong> Dragon's Ire and Downpour</div>