First, we have Katie playing basketball with some of her friends (sadly, the only one I have a name for is the mouse--his name’s Roscoe).
Then, we have Bita rocking out with her friends--Chilla the chinchilla, and Gina the guinea pig.
Finally, we have some hero-villain confrontations, which unfortunately has our heroes having a bad time (they’ll turn it around soon, however). The only villain not present is Licorice, who would be an alternative battle for Apple, but I wanted to draw out a part of the story where the Squad first meets Queen Florence, which is what got this hero vs. villain set started.
One of my favorites out of all the ideas I’ve had in my life, and this started to come about when I was eight. If I could make a cartoon out of this, I would.
This was built upon with the help of my siblings over the years, and they’re the characters that I always return to when I’m in the mood for more original ideas over fan art. They’ve gone through some changes, but I’m still keeping to the core of them being not just a superhero team, but a large adoptive family.
They live in a world ruled by rodents and other small mammals, living lives and building cities and doing jobs much like our own. However, every century, there is a magical meteor shower that ends up granting random critters superpowers, which no one has been able to explain the how and the why yet. The Squad, either having been directly granted powers or having inherited them from ancestors granted powers in previous centuries, was brought together when a mouse named Anna Merrimouser gained custody over seven superpowered foster children (five of whom are definite orphans), and started to raise them alongside her three biological kids.
They protect their home city of Gnawpolis, having to fight crime from the most pathetic crooks to the most dangerous of supervillains. They are still a bunch of kids, however, so life can get bumpy between their heroics and their normal lives.
The Squad consists of these kids:
Apple is the butterfly mouse, who ended up with his mutation when as a toddler he ate a butterfly enchanted by the meteor shower. At age six, he’s a sweet and cheerful little boy who finds science really cool, but is a little shy because his mutation is kind of embarrassing. However, it does have some perks, as he can fly and create gusts of wind (or even tornadoes), perform hypnosis with a flash of his wings, and shoot lasers from his antennae. He, along with younger twin siblings Tootsie and Boots, is the biological son of Anna.
Destiny is the youngest of the Squad, a five-year-old rat whose origins are a mystery, as she was just found at an orphanage doorstep one night. She’s a charming little princess who love pink and purple, tea parties, ballet, and using her psychic powers to make her toys move with her mind and send telepathic messages to others, sometimes telling them that she wants sweets. She doesn’t like taking off her hat.
Bita is the oldest of the Squad, at sixteen. Orphaned when a gang attacked her entire family, leaving her the only survivor thanks to her super strength and near invincibility (granted to her by the shower, which also turned her fur pink), she has a major protective streak regarding her new family. Still, as a teenager, she does get annoyed with them, and she’s snarky as all get-go. Sometimes she’d rather rock out with her friends in their band (she sings and plays guitar) or do makeovers or hang out at the mall, but she does enjoy kicking villain butt and joking about how she, a rabbit, is technically not a rodent.
Fireball is the flaming dwarf hamster. Orphaned when his inborn powers manifested when he had a nightmare and accidentally burned his house down in his sleep, he’s got issues. He once feared his pyrokinesis after that fateful night when he was five, but at thirteen, he’s got the hang of his powers and will liberally use them in a fight. Still, he is the designated grump of the family, and you best leave him alone when he’s contentedly playing his video games, reading comics, or playing chef in the kitchen. He will burn you when startled.
Iceham is a hamster that’s the opposite of Fireball. He’s more stoic and chill, fitting with his ice powers, and his level-headedness typically leads to him leading the Squad. Though fourteen, he’s had to grow up a little too fast after losing his parents. Soon after they were granted powers from the shower, Iceham’s biological brother was consumed by his shadow, taking the name of Darkness and proceeding to off their parents and attempt to get him as well, with Iceham only escaping by freezing him and running away. He usually shies away from doing activities, but he has a friend who’s helping him discover interests in winter sports and art.
Electrex is a hyperactive gerbil with the classic weird goofiness of eleven-year-old boys. Despite having lost his parents to illness years before, he’s quite cheerful and mischievous, with a love of jokes and pranks, with a favorite being using his electrical powers to be a walking joy buzzer. Born with the powers and a large birthmark on his chest, he seems to be rather proud of who he is, even if the others get annoyed with him--though, sometimes, he’d wish that he’d get attention for the tinkering and skating tricks he does in his calmer moments.
Katie is the rough-and-tumble tomboy, an eight-year-old athletic chipmunk who’s also got a lot of energy to burn. Born with the powers of shapeshifting and healing hands, she’ll dare to do just about anything. She’s quite the bold smart aleck, and sometimes likes to do business ventures to earn some extra bucks. However, despite her attitude most of the time, she is full of compassion, as she’ll rush to the aid of the injured and heal them. It might be natural healer’s instinct, or she doesn’t like the thought of anyone losing their loved ones like how she lost her parents thanks to a car accident.
Lucia is an acrobatic squirrel who absolutely loves the great outdoors. The fresh air, the trees to climb, the dirt to feel between her toes, and a creek to splash in make her a happy ten-year-old. With her powers involving light--making her body emit light, cast illusions, and even turn invisible--she’ll even create a show at night and be as creative as she wants. It might have something to do with her biological parents entering her in child pageants and making her a ‘perfect’ little girl to win money, and then locking her up in a small room most of the time to prevent any other influences from ‘tainting’ her (she was extremely lucky to even have been granted her powers the night of the meteor shower). Eventually, someone caught on and she was taken out of her parents’ custody. With Anna, she appreciates the freedom she’s given to explore who she wants to be, despite still having claustrophobia and an aversion to glitter.
Even though the fact that they’re a bunch of kids gives citizens pause, they have proven more than capable of dealing with extraordinary threats multiple times.
I have drawn the SRS and posted it here before, but this is a bit of an overhaul where I give them a new art style (the old one... had those black holes for eyes which was kinda creepy), change some species to make it more diverse than just hamster, mouse, and rabbit, and add another character at my sister’s suggestion. I think it turned out well, and they’ve actually been more fun to draw as of late. Heck, I oughta show you the rogues gallery and supporting characters sometime, as I’ve gotten some inspiration for those and they’re fun, too.
Wow, I rambled. But, hey, I love these characters.
Once upon a time, there were a pair of twin brothers.
They were little hamsters, growing up in a nice little hamster home with their lovely hamster parents. Handsome boys they were; the elder had sleek, dark fur, whilst the younger had fur of snow white. And the boys were always together, being the best of friends and doing everything together wherever they went. The elder twin was in charge, feeling responsible for his quiet younger twin, and would defend him from enemies on the playground. It seemed like it was them against the world. Neighbors of their mountain community remarked on how strong the boys' bond was.
However, upon a closer look, the elder one was certainly in charge. Maybe a little too in charge. Whatever he said, goes, and that as twins they must do everything together--even if his little bro wanted to do something else, or play with someone else, or even just wanted to be alone. Elder twin was adamant that twins are best friends, and that he was the only one that little bro could count on. You can't control what other people do, so you can't trust them, period. And as best friends, they needed to have the same hobbies, same favorite color, same clothing and music and even food tastes...
"Hey, why do you like spinach? You can't like spinach, because I don't like spinach! If I had my way, spinach would be illegal!"
If little bro protests, he gets a punch to the face.
Their parents at first bought that they were best friends; but, eventually, they noticed this really bossy behavior, and tried to get him to rein it in and let the younger twin have his space. Indeed, they even made sure that they had separate rooms, asked the school to put them in separate classes, and even encouraged them to have different hobbies from each other.
The younger twin was shy in his class at first, but as he warmed up, he showed promise in being a good student and leader to his classmates, often helming projects and figuring out how his group members can work together. But the elder twin in his class still showed controlling behavior, but towards his classmates. His project was done his way, and he'd criticize everyone who didn't do things right like he did. He was often defiant of the teacher, and thought his classmates were stupid. That everyone was stupid.
Their parents found their elder son exhausting, and hoped that if they just held on and kept persisting in discouraging this controlling bully behavior, he'd eventually grow out of it.
Then, the Great Comet came. As a family, they went out to view it, having a little campfire and picnic with their extended family. As the comet showered magic beams on the Earth, a couple of those beams came to them--the younger chewing on the ice cubes of his lemonade when he was hit by one, and the elder's shadow getting a hit of this magic as well.
Things seemed normal when they returned home and went to bed. However, the elder brother would wake up to himself fusing to his shadow. Though frightened at first, and wanting to scream and cry for his parents, the shadow assured him that they were friends, and that it was here to make his deepest, darkest desires come true...
Embracing the shadow that consumed him, he set to work on ridding himself on two prominent obstacles. Two people that he was happy to have his darkness consume and drop into a shadowy realm to suffocate, in such a way that there was no trace of them left. The two people who dared to restrain his duty to steer others--especially little bro--onto the right path.
When the little brother woke up, their parents were gone, and his brother was a shadow monster chasing him in an attempt to snatch his shadow and make him his puppet. To both's surprise, little brother was firing ice beams from his paws, defending himself from the bully that wanted nothing more than to control him. Indeed, freezing the shadow monster slowed it down enough for little brother to escape the house--with cuts and bruises, most notably a nick on the ear, but alive. He ran away, hoping to find someone--police, firefighter, army, anyone--who could help.
The police could not find any trace of his family, both immediate and extended that were staying. As he had developed superpowers, they put him in a special sort of children's home--for orphaned supercritters--and told him to wait while they investigated. However, he knew they'd never find his family. His brother consumed them, and it was only him left.
Over time, he got to know the other kids, most of whom were younger than him, and he, as well as the rabbit a couple years older than him, took to looking out for them and their elderly caretakers--and later the mouse who'd adopt them and make them official family. All the while, he repressed his fear of the shadow monster of a brother that is still out there, wondering why he hadn't come after him yet.
Elder twin, meanwhile, had been snatched up by the Jackalope soon after that night, and kept prisoner in the ice fortress of Jack's friend, Winter. They recognized how dangerous he was, and unfortunately, haven't found a way to remove his powers without killing him--he's too thoroughly merged with his enchanted shadow. And they do not want to kill a kid.
But as they try to figure this guy out, he'll plan his escape, he'll get back home, and he'll use his powers to take control of not just his brother, but the entire city... and perhaps beyond that. After all, Darkhall knows best.
Never mind that he's just a teenager.
~~~
And that's the story of Iceham and his biological brother Asher--aka Darkhall. Like his brother, the latter was also created by my brother (though he was originally called "Darkball", as another Fireball rip-off...) as a tough and dangerous villain for the Squad.
Iceham (Gnawles) Merrimouser is a lot more mature than your average 14-year-old. This hamster is the most cool and collected of the bunch, and often has intense focus on what he deems important tasks. He has no time for petty things like the social hierarchy at school, and one look with his icy gaze can scare someone straight. He's quite intelligent and well-read, being a straight-A student who takes his studies seriously.
Between his smarts, his general seriousness, and his status as the oldest boy of the Squad, it's really no surprise that he is co-leader with the oldest girl, Bita. He is the cooler head to Bita's hotter head, and the strategist to Bita's enforcer. Even when they clash, the two have the utmost respect for each other.
His powers of ice suit him so well, it's a surprise that he wasn't born with it--he just happened to be chewing on ice cubes when he got empowered by the Great Comet. In any case, with the power to create ice and snow, he's got a handy way of catching baddies by simply freezing them in their tracks. He can survive in subzero temperatures while wearing light clothing. He even has a bit of weather manipulation in order to create blizzards, a miniature polar vortex, or his signature "Ice Hurricane" attack--though those are always last resorts because he wants to keep damage to a minimum.
He isn't without his pleasures, though. As stated before, he's well-read, so he clearly has reading as a hobby, and he likes to do puzzles and play chess to keep his mind sharp. He's even fond of writing poems, short stories, or even songs (sometimes Bita's band likes to play them, since he has a taste for rock). But on the flip side, he has a fondness for winter sports, snowboarding in particular. He doesn't even need to buy a board, he could just make one with his ice powers and away he goes. He's not above playing video, board, or even sports games with his siblings, and takes a little pleasure in frustrating them by beating them at more strategic games (though he'll lose gracefully if one of them gets lucky). And while he technically doesn't need it, he wears the jacket because he thinks it's cool.
He does have one fear that he would find a little embarrassing if not for the reasoning behind it--he's afraid of the dark. He can be even cautious of his own shadow at times. On the surface, it's laughable and breaks any coolness factor he may have. But if anyone were to learn about how his biological brother turned into a shadow thanks to the Great Comet, proceeded to consume their parents, and is still out there somewhere... yeah, it's a miracle that he still has a mostly level head. He just appreciates how there are three in the Squad that can emit light in some form (Fireball, Electrex, Lucia) that can keep that living shadow away, and it's been five years since that night and the official creation of the Squad and nothing happened. Still, Bita was the only one who knew for a while; to everyone else, his family just straight up disappeared.
(We'll get to why Mr. Shadow Brother hasn't shown up in those five years at some point in the future)
Overall, he does desire to keep being the big brother of the Squad, even if he often has to put his own troubles by the wayside.
~~~
Iceham was originally created by my brother as an addition to the Squad when we were kids, though his original name was Iceball (as an ice version of Fireball). Since bro has moved on, I've kind of adopted him. As part of a SRS revamp a few years back, I changed his name so he was less of a Fireball ripoff (he was also initially a dwarf hamster, but I decided that him being a regular Syrian hamster was just fine).
I did want to keep his more cool leader character intact, though I want to focus more on him being a more serious and level-headed character as opposed to him being that generically cool character that's cool for the sake of cool. So I decided to amp up his intelligence and more sophisticated side, though not to the point of making him a complete stereotypical nerd. A nice balance, if you will.
