Initiation

[size=200]Training Session 1:[/size]

The clacking sound of leather scraping on the hard cement floor echoed throughout the strange, darkened corridor. Suddenly, from around the corner emerged a familiar mustached man wearing a black jump suit (or as the gentlemen preferred to call his "speed suit") and thick sunglasses. The man walked with purpose in his step as he approached his final destination: two large metallic doors with a small electrical panel to the left of these entrances bearing the words:

[size=150]CAUTION! A TRAINING EXERCISE IS CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS![/size]

The man's mustache twitched nervously as his eyes fell upon these words. At the present state this relatively fit man was being overwhelmed by a hurricane of emotions. He could not specifically tell if he was excited or nervous about the whole situation. Yet, as a trained soldier, Agent Bedrock had learned long ago never to show his emotions outwardly, and so was the case as he straigthened himself up and approached the electrical panel. Placing his right palm over the black screen of the panel, a bright and warm light washed over his hand, taking a digital scan of his fingerprints. After a few more odd whirring noises, the device spoke loudly:

"Confirmed. Agent Bedrock, Level 5 clearance approved. Shutting down current training session."

Suddenly, the loud sound of pressurized gas could be heard as the doors began to slide open revealing a large, practically barren room. In the center of the room, three men stood looking rather disappointed. But upon looking over and seeing the serious expression on the mustached man's face. They immediately filed out the door as quick as they could. Ethos smiled. Such responses always amused him throughout his years with the Agency. Opening up a small PDA device and after a few quick button pushing gestures, Ethos placed the device up to his hear and spoke:

“Alright Charlie, the training room has been cleared you can send in the new recruits, Ezekiel, Gershom, and… oh is Mr. Riagáin ready?”

Ethos waited as the voice on the other end answered.

“I see. Well then, should I proceed with the other’s training?” And then after another brief pause, “Very well, you may send them in as soon as you’d like. Hopefully they’ll meet up to your expectations.”

With that Ethos pressed another button on the device and shoved it back into his pocket. Then, turning his eyes upward, he hollered out a series of instructions to the air.

“Argyle, please prepare the following training exercises for use upon verbal command. Beast simulation 1, Survival programs 2.1, 2.2, and 2.4, and Supervillain simulation code named: Dr. DoubleX...” The mustached man paused only for a brief second and then turning his head upward one more time, “on second thought, Argyle add one more program to that list, Coliseum exercise 4.5. That should break them in to the way things are run around here.” He muttered to himself.

“Understood, Agent Bedrock. Preparations have been complete.” A metallic voice responded. Then after a pause, “Am I to assume you are training new recruits?”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Ethos said through a set of grinding teeth.

"Wow impressive, an empty room!" remarked the tall yet slender Ezekiel Jones as he peered into the room. "You know, considering the very elaborate laser lights show Charlie just put on with his STUD, I was banking on something a little more high tech, like robotic ninjas or something."

The boy smiled at the mustached man standing in the center of the room, hoping to gain a laugh out of Agent Bedrock. He had only been with the man for a little under 12 hours, yet had already managed to form an opinion of him: a cool head, but a serious stick in the mud.

He wondered whether or not Agent Bedrock had ever laughed in his life, or if it was even possible. Either way, Ezekiel secretly swore to himself that one way or another he would make it his personal mission to get Bedrock to release the slightest of cackles one of these days.

Turning his attention towards the empty space the young man examined it carefully, but could find no hidden trap doors or any indication that this area was anything like a high tech training facility that Charlie seemed to hint to. Must not be on the budget, Ezekiel thought sarcastically.

"Or something." Ethos said irritably.

He called up a program on his STUD and waited while it connected to the central training computer. Glancing at the default protocols, he delicately prodded a massive finger along the screen, tweaking the difficulty ratings. He was not a vengeful man...well alright, he wasn't a sadist. Not very often. Anyway, he was an OK guy, but there was something about this Ezekiel kid that scratched some serious fingernails on the proverbial chalkboard, and Ethos was more than a little eager to break him. Not destroy him of course. Only moronic commanders thought that soldiers needed to be virtual shells before they became useful. But the military had taught Ethos that is you wanted your boys and girls to survive, there was a certain amount of "unmaking" that was required. It was like forging a sword: first you needed to hammer the metal flat before it could be shaped to something dangerous. He nodded to himself as he added a few environmental hazards to the simulation queue. Maybe just a little more flattening in this case.

"Okay, buffer it." His STUD glowed in response, but there was no voice this time. The vocal simulators used a fair amount of active memory to articulate properly, so he'd turned them off to devote more hardware to the simulation build. He pocketed his STUD and whistled.

"Ezekiel! Come over here for your mission brief. Looks like you're up first." His instinct was to start it slow, introduce him to the rigors of the field simulation bit by bit and lead up to the big boss. But time was a bad friend at best, and right now Ethos was tasked with giving all the kids a crash course in reality. It would most likely be pretty brutal.

He couldn't help but grin.

"Huh?!" Ezekiel whirled his head around sharply upon hearing Agent Bedrock's voice. "What is it?" the young man asked as he hurried over to where the mustached man stood.

His heart raced rapidly. Although he was unsure of what type of training the agent had in mind, his brain began to playfully invent various scenarios in his head from simple weightlifting and conditioning exercises to wresting with other agents. Though usually busy with his studies and various part-time jobs, Ezekiel had found time now and then to work out and practice with others at the local Iron Ab gym. Before developing his powers back in Pennsylvania, the Jones boy had been a stellar athlete in both track and especially wrestling. He could have easily qualified for state had he been determined enough. But he never got the chance to prove himself.

Now I've a second shot. A chance to prove my worth. Ezekiel thought. The boy smirked and he began to wring his hands excitedly.

"What's the mission, sir?"

"The mission?"

The room suddenly glowed white, a formless void in all directions.  A moment later there was an soft whoosh, and suddenly Ethos was holding a bright-green beach ball.  It stayed in his hands for less than a second before disappearing with a crack.  Above his head, a small number "01" shimmered into sight.

"We're going to play catch."  His smile lasted for only a moment, but it was downright chilling.  "Load program."

What happened next was, quite simply, ridiculous.  One moment Ethos was calmly standing by himself, and the next he was flipping about left and right, kicking and punching in an amazing display of acrobatics as what looked like multicolored rubber balls flew towards him from every possible direction.  They seemed to have no originating source, but the balls seemed to materialize several meters away before darting towards him with a wicked speed.  Equally fast, the counter above his head began to climb, rocketing upwards with every connecting blow of his body.  Ethos was a whirlwind of gnashing, punching, kicking, stomping, but his face was pure serenity.  It was like a hell reserved for the most evil of dodge-ball players, but the man could have been brushing his teeth for all the effort he showed.  The balls refused to let up, but Ethos looked right at home.

EHHHHHH!

A buzzer echoed loudly, vibrating the air.  The balls vanished, and Ethos landed lightly on his feet, casually brushing off his shoulder.  "100" glowed proudly above his head. The whole thing had taken less than a minute from start to finish.

"Congratulations player!  You won!"

"That I did, my friend."  Ethos smiled.  He wasn't even breathing hard.  "But I'm not here to play today.  We have a new player!"  He made a gesture with his hand and the glowing number above him disappeared, only to reappear above Ezekiel.  "Computer, please reset."  The number dropped back to zero.  "Whenever you're ready, just say "load program" and the computer will do the rest."  

"Whenever you're ready."  And he smiled.

Ezekiel gazed wide-eyed at Agent Bedrock. The entire scene had been too ridiculous for him to even comprehend what had just happened. The mustached man had not even broken a sweat as he had swatted away the projectiles as they approached him. His speed was practically superhuman as his body bobbed and swerved to deflect each ball.

Another memory stirred in the Jones boy's head. He recalled his short stint playing on his high school volleyball team. Despite his natural lanky height, Ezekiel had been unable to judge and accurately hit the ball during practice. So fed up by his inability to succeed with the simplest of tasks he had quit after three practices. Never had he been so disappointed with his young adolescent self. It was almost fitting that a similar situation would be resurrected to haunt him just as he was making the decision to do some real good in the world. This task stood between him and his ultimate goal of being a hero.

"When I am ready..." Ezekiel repeated Bedrock's words softly. Then he cracked a smile. His skin became cold and dull grey. The color from his eyes faded and melted together. His body tugged upward and grew thick and heavy. Before long, the boy was no more. Only the shimmering metallic body of Metal Spyke remained.

Along his arms, small little bumps appeared a protruded outward growing wider and pointer.

SHNNK! SHNNK! SHNNK!

The spikey deposits from his body came easily this time and dug themselves into the floor. Before long, Ezekiel stood as a spikey monolith among a circle of thick metal stalagmites, which provided a rudimentary barrier between him and whatever balls that might come shooting at him.

"You said that when I was ready, I could begin? Well... I think I am prepared. 'Load Program'."

"Argyle, pause."  Ethos was downright annoyed at his conscience at the moment, but somehow he couldn't completely throw the kid to the wolves.  He looked the kid straight in the eye to make sure he had his attention.

"In case you haven't figured it out, the rules are simple.  Argyle, one ball please."  A green ball materialized in the air above him but didn't move.  "Catch a ball and gain a point."  He jumped and grabbed the ball in the air, landing lightly.  A moment later, the ball vanished.  "Miss one, and you lose a point.  Deflect it, and you gain half a point.  Get hit, and lose half a point.  Reach 100 points in two minutes, and you win."  A part of him wanted to say more, but he suppressed it ruthlessly.  Limiting information was part of the exercise.  But more importantly, Ethos was tasked with taking a four-week course and stuffing it into 24 hours.  He could almost hear the clock ticking and it pricked at him like a splinter.  The kid would have to figure things out on his own.  It would be hard on him, but better he crack now than when lives were at stake.  

"Two points of advice, kid."  He held up one finger.  "Not all the balls are your friends."  Up went a second finger.  "And don't be afraid to improvise."

Ethos nodded to the room.

"Oh and one more thing.  If you don't pass this test, you're out of the Company.  Resume exercise, Argyle."

"Wait? What!?" Ezekiel shouted after Bedrock. Out of the company? But he had only just begun his training. How could they expect him to ace a test without the necessary knowledge and skills needed to succeed. Improvise. The agent's voice echoed in Ezekiel's ears. He had misunderstood the task parameters. He wasn't merely trying to protect himself from the balls, he was trying to capture them. Something an avid lover of football could definitely achieve. On his palms he willed a small cluster of spikes to gently protrude outwardly. His goal was simple. To create a spikey mitt with which to increase his chances of making a smooth catch of the balls.

The young man marveled at the ease with which he was able to accomplish this small task with his powers. It seemed the more he used his powers the more comfortable he became with even the most exotic of tasks. He awaited the first ball anxiously.

EHHHHHH!

The sound cut through the quiet like a knife before cutting off abruptly as the balls began to materialize. Dozens of them appeared whizzing though the air, some larger or smaller, but all in a variety of colors. There were small, red narrow ones that buzzed about incessantly, a stark contrast to standard green ones Ethos has used in his demonstration. Yellow seemed to be the largest, moving sluggishly around the others in the air like a drunk, while the blue moved in short, erratic bursts. Only the green ones seemed to come on a straight, normal path.

There was no sign of a signal, but suddenly the swarm of red balls descended on Ezekiel like angry hornets, peppering him from all directions.

The wild assortment of colored projectiles proved too distracting for the young hero. Suddenly, he found himself immersed in a flurry of waspish red objects that descended upon him.

"I get the point." Ezekiel muttered as he focused on extending his body spikes abruptly outward to skewer the red projectiles. Agent Bedrock had mentioned that he earned the most points by catching. He didn't say it had to be catching with his hands. He felt a slight shiver across his body as his metallic skin quivered before extending the spikes outward like several small miniature thrusting spears. He resembled a ridiculously shiny porcupine. He watched as the spikes neared the red projectiles.

Of the ten balls speeding towards the young hero, seven were impaled by the spikes and sent hurtling straight into the remaining three.  But as soon as the balls collided the entire mess suddenly exploded, reverberating throughout the room.  Dust and smoke spread in a haze, tinging the air with a burnt smell and lowering visibility.  Ethos coughed, but still managed to chuckle despite himself.

"Oh yes, the red ones explode when they're disturbed.  Best to just dodge those."

For the moment the red balls were no more, but the blue ones seemed to be eager to be next in line.  Six of them ceased their orbit and began moving towards Ezekiel.  They still continued their random zig-zag pattern, but despite the erratic movement managed to steer themselves in the general direction of their target.

The noise from the several explosions reverberated across Ezekiel's thick steely skin. He felt a slight push of force, but his skin remained without burns, scrapes, or any markings whatsoever. He smiled inwardly. They were testing his limits.

He now turned his attention towards the sporadically moving blue balls which descended upon him. Instinctively, Ezekiel spread out his thick spike-studded arms and attempted to embrace the balls as they swarmed him.

Ethos grunted softly to himself, mildly impressed.  The kid had taken the force of the explosion at no more than ten feet away, and come out of it without a scratch.  Of course, that much was not surprising.  Ethos had brought the kid in.  He'd seen him in action, and that skin of his certainly could take a beating.  

He reached into a pocket and tapped slightly on his STUD.  Instantly the smoke in the area just around his body vanished, leaving him with an egg-shaped halo of clean space.  A familiar voice in his ear chimed softly, barely above a whisper.

"Done beating on the child, Ethos?"

"Hardly."  He said tersely.  "What do we know about his "talent?"

"Searching."  A slight pause.  "Biological mutation.  Creates a metallic coating over the subject's skin that can also be crudely controlled to form blunt projectiles, accurate to within ten meters.  Maximum range unknown.  Subject also has expressed above average levels of endurance and strength, but these have not been confirmed to be linked to mutation.  Continuing search."  

Ethos waited impatiently.  Most of that had come from his own field report.

"Skin samples taken during extraction indicate subject's cells have bonded with a metallic superalloy similar to Inconel."  Ethos's eyebrows rose minutely.  Inconel was tough stuff.  "A chemical process of unknown composition allows the lipids and proteins of the cell membrane to become saturated with the superalloy, remaining in a semi-constant liquid state.  Further study is needed.  Signed Dr. Diane Eldrest."

Ethos chewed his lip for a minute.  "Increase the hazard rating for the balls.  Corrosive acid, poisons, whatever.  He can take it.  But keep an eye on his vitals.  Blood pressure, heart rate, the works.  Record and monitor everything."

"Now...let's see how he likes these blue devils.  They have an...electric personality."

"That was...not funny."

"Who asked you, Argyle?"

With anticipation in his eyes, he saw the blue balls connect with Ezekiel's metal form.  A moment later there was an electric crackle, and Ethos strained his eyes.  How would the kid's metallic body cope with supercharged electricity?

Ezekiel grinned again. It seemed that Agent Bedrock had forgotten about their encounter with Doctor Double X earlier (see Gathering of Heroes Prologue for details!). The electricity flowed across his metallic body creating small blue arcs of lightning. Still, he only only felt a slight tugging sensation on his skin as he held the blue orbs in his arms. The blue bolts continued to travel across his body unable to break through his living armor.

"Yeah, in case you hadn't realized it Bedrock. Electricity is sort of my forte." he said. He faked a yawn and looked at an invisible watch on his hand jokingly. It was impossible to read the mustached man's expression behind those thick-framed sunglasses. Nevertheless, Ezekiel suddenly realized that mocking the exercise may not have been the brightest idea.

"My boy," Ethos sighed. "The electricity wasn't meant to hurt you." He pressed his STUD and the simulation seemed to increase in intensity, the round projectiles moving slightly faster. "But then, maybe science isn't your strong point." He keyed in a few commands, talking as he worked. "I don't know if you're aware of all of the properties of your talent or not, but in that form your body has all the attributes of a metal known as Inconel. Extremely durable stuff. Resists corrosion, pressure, very high melting point and for all practical purposes impervious to damage." Ethos grinned wickedly. "It's also extremely magnetic."

The blue balls crackled once again, but instead of disappearing like the others, remained firmly attached to Ezekiel's arms. Ethos keyed in a few more commands and put his hands in his pockets. A few moments passed and soon his breath began to shimmer in the air, appearing in short puffs of steam. The room was getting colder.

"I don't know the exact composition of your alloy, but all Inconel increases its magnetic properties as it grows colder. Combined with that electrical charge, consider yourself a giant electro-magnet." He raised an eyebrow. "At least it'll make things more interesting, eh?"

From above, the balls launched another assalt: eight green, two red and one yellow.

"Grrahh! I can't move!" exclaimed metallic monolith as he struggled to shake off the clusters of blue orbs that clung to him like weighted packing styrofoam. No good. Bedrock had found a chink in his power set. He had never dealt with a super magnet powerful enough to bother him while in his metal form. Now, thanks to the high amounts of voltage emanating from the blue balls he had been transformed into a living magnet.

"I know I have a magnetic personality, but this is ridiculous" Ezekiel muttered through his teeth. The swarms of blue orbs continued to weigh on him preventing him from moving his arms or legs. As if he were being tugged by a set of invisible arms on all sides.

Options. The boy's brain was spinning as he watched the next bombardment of projectiles coming right at him. Come on Jones! Think! Your arms are magnetize while in metal form. So how can you get out? He had become a conductor. And the more electricity that pumped into his metal shell...

Wait! That's it! His mind drifted back to his days in Electromanetics 235 with Dr. Conrad Bison. Dr. Bison had demonstrated the effects of magnetic fields by placing a mouse in between two extremely strong superconductors. Ezekiel remembered being amazed as the mouse was suspended in mid-air by the intense magnetic fields emanating from the superconductors. Yet his focus was on something much more exciting, the Meissner Effect. Dr. Bison had stated that when superconductors transition to a state of superconductivity, their interiors actually expunge magnetic fields when it reaches below a critical temperature.

The Jones boy grinned. "On the contrary, Bedrock." he began, "Science has always been an interest of mine. In particular the realm of physics. Did you know I majored in it for my undergraduate?"

He willed the spikes along his arms, legs, and torso to extend outward. He felt the electricity surge towards the tips of each protrusion. He smiled inwardly. By extending his mass he was extending his superconductive nature and there by allowing the Meissner Effect to take over, pushing the magnetic field outward towards other ferromagnetic devices including the nearby remaining projectiles, the walls, and Agent Bedrock's hand held device.

The STUD vibrated for less than a second before growing still once more. Ethos paid it no mind. Most of its parts were a blend of rubber and ceramics, and even the fiber-optic neural network was made of a gold alloy. The polarization field had only engaged to protect the computer core from overload. Instead Ethos's attention was fixed on the metalloid and his spiked protrusions, which somehow seemed to be countering the magnetic effect of the electrical charge. His mind worked, sifting through possibilities before the answer came.

The Meissner Effect? Ethos grunted. Most interesting. He felt himself growing impressed, against his will. The kid was more than a shuffling assortment of muscle and bulk. And the projectiles were stalled in mid-air. But unfortunately for Mr. Metalloid, this game wasn't won by cleverness alone. Strategy was the key, and tactics was what turned it. Ezekiel would learn that or die trying, and Ethos preferred the former in his recruits.

"For a scientist, you're awfully short-sighted." He wagged a finger. "Extending your spikes was a good idea, but since there are multiple magnetic field emissions from every spike relative to your body, you've created a lot of flux quanta, and they're most likely oscillating as we speak. Essentially, your gambit just cancelled itself out." He glanced at his STUD for a moment. "I believe it's called the "Paramagnetic Meissner effect," and it'll remain as long as those spikes are attached." Ethos gave a shrug. "Of course, you could always shoot them away, but then you'll be facing your original problem. And the clock is still ticking."

Still hovering was the clock, counting down the seconds until the game was finished. Over a quarter of the time had already passed, and so far Ezekiel had barely scored any points. Ethos sighed.

"Well Argyle, get a transport ready. Looks like this guy is leaving sooner than we thought."

Damn. Ezekiel cursed inwardly. He had not accounted for Agent Bedrock's phone gizmo (a STUD was it?) to be unfazed by his attempts of magnetically grabbing it. As the other projectiles drew closer, Ezekiel desperately strained to pry himself from the electric field. He glanced up at the score clock. Despite the great many blue balls he had obtained through his magnetic attraction, he was still sorely low in points and the time was almost up.

"How do you expect me to gain more points when I'm sitting magnet here!" The Jones hollered in frustration. It felt as the though the whole world was against him. He had lost everything he held dear due to the manifestation of his powers and with every attempt to control and use his "gifts" to play hero he was met with setbacks. He would not allow his powers to end him.

"Well I'm not done yet! My powers may involve metal but that does not mean they make up my person!" the boy announced defiantly. Ezekiel then will himself to shed his metallic skin. His stature shrunks, the spikes retracted back into his skin, and his shiny exterior blackened and became fleshy.

Immediately he was met with the intense burning sensation. His body shook tremendously, but then the pain was gone. He stared in wonder as the blue balls clung to him but the flow of electricity was still bearable. How could this be? He waited for the magnetic tendencies of the balls to wear off. Now that he was no longer ferromagnetic, there attraction to him would be nearly non-existent.