Alan Greer was a talented specialist in metallurgy. He wasn't a boy-genius or anything of that sort, he grew up in the normal fashion playing little league and playing with his friends, went to high school where he played as a lineback on the football team and was a king in metal shop where his ability to make little gizmos was much remarked upon, and went to state college on a moderate sports scholarship. He got into metallurgy kind of by accident; there was a cute girl named Deborah Whaite that Alan was determined to date despite her repeated rejections; she wanted more than some football jock. So Alan started taking any class she was in, which mostly involved a lot of science classes. Alan wasn't stupid by any means, though he had a tendency to cut corners in his studies much as in his normal life, and he soon found he enjoyed the subject matter, particularly when it involved metal. There was just something facinating about it; he would often learn the theory behind things he had done in metal shop in highschool, and could really relate to it.
Pretty soon, thoughts of Deborah were put aside as he got deeper into his studies. He finished four years and managed to scrape together enough money working odd jobs and chasing financial aid scholarships to stay in school, pursuing a higher degree. This was driven by a strange discovery he had made working after class in one of the student labs. The University had acquired a chunk of a strange metal sample taken from a meteor rock that fell to earth several years previously. The metal, called Ferinium by the team that initially studied it, had many of the qualities of Iron, but also was similar to quicksilver in that it had a liquid-like solidity. Many scientists had studied it but eventually not been able to figure out any practical use for the substance. Alan however had noticed a strange reaction when the Ferinium was exposed to magnets and had rigged up an ersatz magnetic field generator from some equipment laying around the lab. He learned how to use magnetic fields to shape and direct Ferinium, but couldnt think of any useful purpose for it; he was determined however. He even wrote a lengthy paper about it that was published in several scientific journals, complete with several theories about what it might be used for, but it was not well recieved -- everyone that knew anything about Ferinium knew it was just a curioisity and nothing more.
Angry at the snide and unkind comments that now came his way, Alan stormed into the lab in a rage and started beating on his magnetic field generating apparatus, trying to break it. In the process the power switch way knocked into high power and a field was generated that resulted in the Ferinium sample being literally launched at the enraged Alan coating his face, and then flowing like liquid into his throat. Now choking to death, Alan stopped his flailing to clutch at his throat, standing there being innundated by the magnetic field generator all the while. Soon he passed out from lack of oxygen, but when he woke up was shocked to find that somehow the Ferrinium had impermeated his body and turned his body into a solid flexible metal, with vast strength and durability.
After adjusting to the initial shock of his new state, to include leaving school and hiding himself away from everyone for a while until he could adjust to his new state, he realized that a normal life is beyond him now and he must decide what to do with hiself. He considered super-villainy, but decided that while he is strong and tough he doesnt have any powers that would make him well suited to not getting caught, and he doesnt want to sit in prison for the rest of his life. So, more out of practicality than anything he decided that he would become a superhero and join a team so that he can have a base to live in and maybe a decent lab so he can search for a cure to his condition. Setting off on the right foot he waited around with a police scanner for a couple of weeks waiting for something big, and finally got his chance with a big bank robbery, which he ran down to and stopped, easily defeating the robbers who had holed up with some hostages.
He announced to the admiring press thereafter that his name is Ferrous and that he is looking for a superhero team to join, and received several offers but most have been from crackpots or bushleagers. Eventually the city of Denver, Colorado asked him to move to their city and be a resident superhero, helping to protect against the occassional supervillain and assisting the RIOT teams at need on mundane crimes that get difficult in return for a decent salary paid by the city council. He was very successful in this regard, and was one of the first supers asked to join the HERONet initiative. He agreed, and has been part of a few engagements in that regard. |
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