1 – Ivan Ivanovitch

Ivan Ivanovitch did not seem to feel the cold. He sat opposite Mr. Pine in the warehouse, the light glinting off of his shaved head (Ivan's bald head – the light flared in Mr. Pine's carefully maintained pouf.)

"I am heavy-weapons-guy," he explained slowly in adequate English. "And this is my weapon."

Mr. Pine nodded at the gun with respect and raised his eyebrows when Ivanovitch described the capabilities of the gun and how much it cost to fire per minute. Ivanovitch seemed to be the type who took a long time to work out sums, but once he had them in his head, they stayed there.

Or maybe not. Asked on his opinion about the morality of Soviet Russia and the race of Supers, his expression went blank and he eventually managed to recite a schoolyard poem about Glorious Mother Russia. However, when Mr. Pine asked him, "What do you think makes you a good fighter?" Ivaonvitch's answer was much more forthcoming (again, allowing for the space of a few minutes).

"Some people think they can outsmart me. Maybe. Maybe." He gave a grin, and held up a sharp slug. "I've yet to meet one who can outsmart bullet."

The next step, of course, was the testing grounds. The moving, jumping, and sometimes attacking figures posed no threat to Ivan Ivanovitch, and if any did, he was sufficiently angered by that one to pulverize the next fifteen into goo. And he was delighted that they exploded. He said "Sasha" liked it when they exploded.

Mr. Pine smiled. The next step, of course, would be the negotiations with the Ruskies for their best employee… but a few picks from Noman Corporation's newest line of Advanced and Specialized Weaponry should be more than soothing.

Mr. Pine, bundled up in furs, stepped over the last of the training dummies – what was left of it. He approached Ivanovitch with his hands up – one finger on the Zero-Point Energy switch. This was a good move; Ivanovitch's first move was to point Sasha straight at Mr. Pine's head.

However, when Mr. Pine let down enough of his muffler to show that he was smiling, Ivanovitch gave a grin too.

"Ivan Ivanovitch," he said, smiling, "Welcome to the team. You're the first member."

Thank you for the positive reception of the first chapter! I meant to post last week, but it was far too busy… anyway, I know this chapter derived heavily from the 'Meet the Heavy' video, but I promise later chapters will be both longer and more original. (Length, however, is a special issue on this fic – I wanted to test myself to see how concisely I could write.)