Factions

: The Hellions have found their special edge by using the power of mystical artifacts to increase their strength and skill. Only the highest ranked gang members know where these artifacts really come from. The gang values secrecy and solidarity; only those who have undergone the initiation ritual and ceremonially cut themselves can be called Blood Brothers.

: In the satanic worldview of the Hellions, falling is a good thing. The Fallen have proven their willingness to take on any power the gang's mystic artifacts can give them, no matter how twisted or base. The hellfire that burns within them protects them from fire but leaves them susceptible to cold.

: The hellfire burns bright inside the leaders of the Hellions. So bright, in fact, that they can call it forth to incinerate their enemies. This inner fire keeps them safe from fire damage, but leaves them quite susceptible to cold.

Brief

: A new street gang that has mysteriously swelled in numbers so quickly they have taken over a vast chunk of territory that includes the once peaceful Atlas Park. Not only do they openly attack civilians and heroes but they are involved in a vicious gang war against the Skulls. Rumors are circulating that they may be getting support from a more powerful Paragon City street gang.

: Where there is smoke, there is always fire, at least as far as a Hellion is concerned. The Hellions are a relatively new gang on the streets of Paragon City, whose ranks have swollen recently to tremendous levels. Their arsonist tendencies threaten to burn the city down, leaving them only rubble and ash in which to wallow – some say that’s exactly what the Hellions would want.

: The Hellions biggest chapters reside in Atlas Park, Galaxy City, and Perez Park. Atlas and Galaxy swarm with them, checked primarily by the influx of new heroes. In Perez Park, the Hellions’ wildfire-like expansion has been blockaded by the Skulls – the two fight a vicious gang war for every inch of the park unclaimed by more dangerous foes.

: The gang’s colors tend towards red and orange, and their trappings include demonic symbols. Most members have devils, demons, or pentagrams tattooed somewhere on their body, along with the term “Blood Brothers,” for that is what all members are called once they have passed their initiation. Indoctrination to the gang first involves an act of violence (spilling another’s blood), and then a ritual scarring where a recruit ceremonially cuts himself. This is said to unleash a Hellion’s inner potential and to demonstrate his mastery over pain and flesh.

: As members rise in the ranks, they are exposed to a quasi-religious dogma, where power is achieved through crimes, or acts of sin. In the Hellions’ worldview, fear, greed, lust, and anger are powers to be tapped into. They openly claim to “worship the devil,” and brandish Satanic images like a blunt hammer, but few realize that their leaders are deadly serious in their beliefs.

: Members fight for power amongst themselves, to establish their status in the gang’s hierarchy. The lower rungs of the Hellions’ leadership is ever changing, as more ambitious climbers struggle to prove their ability. Two recent Hellions who have made their reputations are the mutant mercenary [3K Kelvin]?, and the self-styled [Duke Mordrogar]?. These boss-figures, and others like them, strive to expand the gang’s influence.

: The nature of the dark forces that empower the Hellions is debatable, but Paragon Police and agents of M.A.G.I.? have documented many reports of gang members gaining supernatural abilities. More worrisome, perhaps, is the testimony of friends and families who describe members as having become twisted by their initiation into the gang. Members maintain a strict code of secrecy and solidarity, even under police interrogation, and the gang leaders – the Fallen and the Damned – take their secrets to the grave.

: The Hellions have been tremendously active in Paragon lately. Although the lowest members run the typical rackets – extortion, robbery, carjacking – the lieutenants and bosses are much more concerned with cornering a niche market: the sales and distribution of black magic artifacts. Part of this is believed to fuel their own abilities, for the Fallen and the Damned have tapped into the power of arcane hellfire.

: The current leaders of the gang have been identified as Decimator, Destroyer, and Destructor. They still take their orders from Tempter?, aka Nick Pocker, the gang’s founder who is currently serving time in the Zig. In fact, so many Hellions have ended up in the Zigursky Penitentiary recently that they regard the prison as a new, fertile territory for their criminal enterprises.

: Before Tempter? was locked up, he was brokering a relationship with the Outcasts, recruiting them into the black market trade in mystical artifacts. They share rivals in the Trolls and the Skulls, although they are clearly not close allies. What is interesting is that the Hellions don’t hoard the arcane objects for themselves – it is almost as if they somehow benefit from spreading them into the general population, sowing evil and misery.

: Tempter? has also sent a handful of top ranking men to the Rogue Isles to establish a foothold amongst the villains beneath Arachnos’s shadow. Whether [3K Kelvin]? and [Duke Mordrogar]? are still in direct communication with him, or whether they are now operating essentially on their own, is currently unknown.

: Hellion arsonists have been spotted for months now, randomly starting fires in Steel Canyon and Skyway City. This seems to be done to raise the gangs profile; to issue challenges to other gangs, like the Trolls; and possibly as an initiation rite for their leaders. This trend has become more commonplace since the incarceration of the gang’s leader, Tempter?.