S.U.P.L.E.X. (Corporation)

S.U.P.L.E.X. Corp is the official business entity that is ultimately responsible for the superhero team. Formed in 2012 through a generous grant from libertarian think tank Citizens Consolidated, S.U.P.L.E.X. was conceived as a solution to the problem of funding independent heroes and protecting their identities. Psyren, the Mistress of Whispers, was responsible for incorporating S.U.P.L.E.X. Corp and remains the CEO to this day. Before this, S.U.P.L.E.X. had been an LLC that was contracted only with the city of Bloomington and was cooperatively owned; Psyren sold shares on the open market and got a revised contract with the State of Indiana after the team received acclaim following the Santa Prisca Affair. S.U.P.L.E.X. pioneered the revolutionary model of using the corporation to assume liability and paying the heroes in ways that protected their identity, such as through gold or cryptocurrency. This allowed the heroes to both afford the expensive MCOB insurance and protect their family from villainous retribution.

S.U.P.L.E.X. Board of Directors

* Psyren (CEO & Majority Shareholder)
* The Verdigris Auditor (CFO)
* Chris By-The-Throat (Head of Talent Development)
* Macho Mask (Head of Marketing)
* Benjamin Cole (Vice President)
* Dr. Badtouch (Consultant & Majority Shareholder)
* Allison Crowley (Public Relations)
* Royce & Sons (Legal)

HISTORY

BEGINNINGS AS A CO-OP

S.U.P.L.E.X. as initially conceived in the first wave of heroes was operated as a co-op, very experimental project between the libertarian Think Tank called Citizens Consolidated and the City of Bloomington, Indiana with the heroes themselves each being the sole shareholders and having a very limited contract for enforcement within the limits of Monroe County. Three weeks after the events of the First Probability Matrix, where an alien ship and a demonic island both appeared to attack the city at the same time as a supervillain themed club opened up downtown and the First Wave Heroes gained their powers, there was still cleanup and support operations that needed to be done immediately, and the short term contract allowed for the heroes to keep all rights and licenses to their image as opposed to many of the mercenary corporate superhero contracts that required those assets to be sold away. This small detail in the contract would form the basis of S.U.P.L.E.X. as it would incorporate. The team was well into relief efforts, disaster response and enforcement of the remnants of both the demons and the circus themed aliens by the time the contract was finalized in January of 2012, a full four months after the night of the Probability Matrix, and many of these operations have few if any surviving records. What is known is that the contract expired when a state of disaster for the city was finally ended in March of that same year. Per the agreement, the city stopped paying their half of the hero's paychecks and MCOB insurance, and the team found itself in financial trouble due to their recent acquisition of airlift capability and two real estate properties-the old Fire Station in Bloomington (Now the S.U.P.L.E.X. Museum and Multiverse Zoo complex) and the property in Hindostan Falls that would become The Quarry. With half of their income gone and Citizens Consolidated threatening to pull their end of the funding, the team as a co-op was dissolved, but with them privately having full rights and collective ownership of the team's assets and, critically, their likenesses.

INCORPORATION

Two events that occurred in 2012 were to shape the team's identity as time went on. The first was the Hellrazor's takeover of the island nation of Santa Morena and it's prodigious cocaine industry, where S.U.P.L.E.X. was offered a very lucrative contract to support Iron Legion and other Federal Strike Force operations in that conflict. They distinguished themselves there, raising their national profile at a time their very first merchandise was rolling off the shelves. The second is the origin and recruitment of the second wave of heroes, including Chris By-The-Throat's then-estranged wife Psyren. A woman with a no-nonsense practicality, good financial sense, and sweeping vision, she offered shares on the open market for the first time, allowing the team to raise capital to fund their newfound success. In some ways, commentators have stated that between CBTT's luck and Psyren's financial sense, the second is far more critical to the team's success although the first obviously doesn't hurt. The second wave of heroes was a smash hit and toy sales alone covered the team's debts and allowed them to set their terms very favorably when negotiating for a contract with the State of Indiana. Governor Dino Moscowicz approved the contract in October of 2012, and the team officially expanded to a statewide organization and began immediately investing in their internal infrastructure and training facilities. Dr. Badtouch, who was not an official member of S.U.P.L.E.X. but a highly paid consultant, proved a major initial investor in the S.U.P.L.E.X. model and could be counted on to represent the team in the field when necessary, so there were few objections from the board whenever a ludicrous expenditure had to be made. (Detractors speculate quite scurrilously that the good doctor's mind control powers are related to that, but anyone who knows Dr. Badtouch will tell you that he is scrupulously honest in all of his business dealings.)

EXPANSION

The team's expansion grew with the passage of time. The third wave was recruited and trained in January of 2014, and the team acquired a contract with Ohio in June, while in negotiations with Kentucky around that time, eventually winning the contract in 2015 with the caveat that Louisville's own Superhero team, the River Frogs, would still be responsible for that city while the rest of the state was S.U.P.L.E.X. territory. During this time, the team's personal wealth and endorsement deals only grew larger, though there were some PR setbacks during this period caused by the Operations staff's love of drugs, alcohol and illegal munitions. CBTT, WLD did his first stint in Rehab during this time, causing a rare dip in the stock prices, and there were some losses in the field as well that affected it, but the team remained financially buoyant due to their numerous patents and residual income from merchandising. During this time, Dr. Badtouch took over officially as the head of Citizens Consolidated, where he had been a major donator during that time, and gained an official spot on the board as the representative of the think tank that had initially funded S.U.P.L.E.X, more or less officially freeing the team from the last of the restrictions that organization had placed on them. He became a major stockholder during that period as well, buying when the price was low, and as it recovered he reinvested in the company a large chunk of his considerable wealth. This kept the team afloat and helped recruit from some of the losses in the 3rd wave of heroes. Operationally, once the World's Luckiest Detective and Flora returned from their rehabilitation stints, the team expanded operations on the ground and the company's image was on the mend again even as the 4th wave of heroes went online at the end of 2015.

REFORMS - THE FIFTH WAVE

The Night of the Second Probability Matrix rocked the city of Bloomington to it's core and tested the heroes like never before. The team's entire roster was recalled and put on duty, even those who were serving jail time, uninsured or not fully qualified yet, including a rookie hero named Purple Reign who was on his 4th try at the Bayonet Assault Course. The fifth wave was recruited once the fires from the Nazi Catgirl Zombie invasion had been put out, having experienced their own series of odd coincidences. The heroes of that wave would raise S.U.P.L.E.X's profile even higher through their progressive social work policies, which were enormously popular in their home city of Bloomington, and through the work of the Macho Ministry, founded by the Macho Mask. These factors increased their popularity tenfold, especially when the fifth wave engaged in high profile capers and the team's first animated movie was set to launch. This changed after the Fifth Street Bank disaster, where 248 civilians were killed in an extradimensional explosion that is still unexplained, along with the brutal death of the Crimson Claw and many things were pushed back several years with the team recruiting several more members. This caused another fall in the stock prices, especially when the animated movie was cancelled in 2016 after several more scandals came to light in a racy tell all, outing the Power Couple (CBTT, WLD and Psyren) as polyamorous sexual deviants.

The team's policies of community policing and alternatives to violence were enormously popular with the communities they served, however, and the charity work of the Macho Ministry was unprecedented in its success, so there were huge gains in the market around 2018 when the city of Las Vegas accepted a S.U.P.L.E.X. contract and opened the first superhero related school of Thaumaturgy there under the direction of The Bastard Alaskan. Scientific and environmental work by the heroes of the fifth wave also increased the team's popularity, especially with younger demographics who didn't really mind polyamorous heroes in the first place, and led to a resurgence in the team's popularity and merchandise sales again, with 2019 seeing the release of the animated movie and subsequent series directed by James Gunn. With toy sales through the roof, the team could invest in projects like their antarctic munitions research station and satellite, the newest generation of gravcell and Aerostat hybrid airship Rapunzel III, and S.U.P.L.E.X. tower in Indianapolis. The first S.U.P.L.E.X. AI project went online in 2020, and like all of the team's AIs was named for a Disney Princess, which resulted in Dr. Badtouch acquiring (very legally) a significant ownership in Disney to avoid a copyright lawsuit.

FUTURE

The future of S.U.P.L.E.X. is as bright as can be reasonably predicted. They have begun recruiting a sixth wave of heroes and are in talks to expand their operations to several southern states and even to the East Coast. The team's personal wealth and the corporation's wealth are at an all time high and the team has even expanded it's training model to be portable-several S.U.P.L.E.X. heroes have begun recruiting their own version of the team for these new operational areas, with potential up-and-comers like Musk Ox, RepliKant, Wook & The Shagman and many more looking to make their mark on the industry. As high as S.U.P.L.E.X. has risen, many experts say there is still higher for them to go. With the release of the World's Luckiest Detective's manual on superhero operations, the model is only expected to be adopted by more and more nation-states with time, and all of them will pay some royalties to the corporation. So it appears to be on the rise, though it is not without detractors-particularly fans and adherents of the Federal Strike Force model of superhero operations. Still, it is hard to argue with success, and by that metric, the company seems to be winning the game.