One Year Later
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to DC or Marvel. I own Farrah/Persiana and Leon/Crisis.
Chapter 19: Heavy Metal
Doctor Magnus looked at the test field where his androids were now preparing for another exercise. The robotics expert marveled at his Metal Men and said,
"All right, Metal Men. The drill you will be conducting today will be a rescue mission."
The assembled androids took to the line. Gold, Tin, Lead, Iron, Mercury, and Platinum were all bracing themselves for the mission. Gold was already running a protocol of how a simple rescue operation would work and acknowledging any factors that could help or hinder the rescue. He said,
"Iron, Lead; take the lead and hold the enemy off. Mercury and Tin, cover our rear. Platinum and I will attempt to rescue the hostages."
The siren began to sound, signaling the beginning of the training mission. The simulation began.
Though this was only a training exercise, the soldiers participating in it were using live ammunition, in an attempt to create as real a situation as could be imagined. The Metal Men knew this and were specifically ordered by Doctor Magnus not to kill or sadistically torture any of them, only to incapacitate them. Iron and Lead took front positions, creating hammer heads and boxing gloves as they reshaped their hands and arms. A few swift hits from the larger Iron was enough to incapacitate several soldiers, as Lead seemingly threw his weight around, barreling into some walls as soldiers scrambled out of the way.
While the heavy hitters of the Metal Men were fighting up front, Gold, Platinum, Tin, and Mercury were making their way further into the mock building being used for the simulation. Gold said,
"Mercury, go into the air vents. See if you can locate the hostages."
The red-colored android saluted,
"Will do, Gold!"
He then reduced his form into semi-liquid and slipped into the vent. Tin looked around and said,
"The floor has several vacant rooms, but there are also soldiers in some of these rooms as well. They have been alerted to the fighting outside and are heading this way."
Gold directed,
"Take cover in one of the rooms."
As the three androids took cover inside, they could hear several soldiers making their way past them and down the stairs to the fighting outside. Gold waited until he could no longer detect any soldiers coming his way. The three malleable androids exited and continued on their mission objective.
Mercury radioed in,
"Gold, I found the hostages. There are three hostiles with them as well."
The shining Metal Men member nodded,
"Roger that, Mercury. Do not move until we have arrived at your location."
Doctor Magnus was watching the Metal Men perform and noted their times. This was going better than he thought, though Lead and Iron were starting to take serious damage and their energy reserves would not last long. However, to complete the authenticity of the simulation, he could not call out what was going on until the simulation was complete.
Doc Magnus was impressed with the mechanics of the Metal Men, but he was preoccupied with that alien metal he recovered. He knew it was not kryptonite, but it was an odd metal with seemingly no known origin. The veridium, as he called it, was a complete mystery to him. He smoked his pipe again, attempting to focus his mind back onto the training program. It infuriated him as a scientist that he could not solve this mystery, but, that was what being a scientist was all about; finding answers to the unanswerable.
A siren went off, signaling the end of the simulation. He looked up, his thoughts being recollected. The scientist checked the time and nodded approvingly,
"Very impressive, though Iron and Lead took a lot of damage before you could back them up as well, Gold."
Gold nodded,
"I realize that, but they were best suited to handle the external threat while the four of us were able to handle the internal one."
Tin spoke up,
"With all do respect, Doc, I think that those two could handle anything that could be thrown at them. They are capable of withstanding the most punishment out of all of us here."
Doc Magnus replied,
"While I have no doubt in their capabilities, you also need to learn that you are as mortal as humans. You may be androids, but you are also capable of dying, and once that realization is made known to you, then you shall know what it means to be human."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, tired,
"That will be all for today. Return to your beds for repairs and recharging of your energy cells."
The Metal Men departed, but Platinum got worried,
"Do you think Doc's mad with us?"
Tin shrugged,
"Not really. He has been working hard to identify that metal he has. No one here knows what it is."
Lead shook his head, yawning,
"I'm tired. I just want to sleep."
Iron stayed silent the whole way over to their beds.
Doc Magnus sat at the control booth for a moment, seemingly lost in space. He was liking this less and less. He knew he was running these tests for General Lane so he could use the Metal Men to go after the Howling Commandos. Or, whom the four-star general thought were the Howling Commandos. Doc Magnus had heard of the group, and, though he could not prove it, the general was not going to give up on his seemingly paranoid belief that the Howling Commandos were a threat to American security. Doc Magnus may not have agreed with their methods, but, from what he hard about them, they did not seem interested in harming American security. Quite the opposite, really; it seemed as if they were attempting to strengthen it.
He sighed and went back to his room on the base. As he entered and turned the lights on, he was a bit surprised Platinum was in the room. She giggled as she hid under the covers,
"Hi, Doc."
Doc Magnus shook his head,
"Platinum, what are you doing here?"
The platinum-plated android said,
"I want to keep you company. You're under a lot of stress."
Magnus rolled his eyes; he was regretting making a female robot. Platinum opened the covers, seductively remarking,
"I can keep you warm if you want me to."
Doc shook his head,
"No, thank you. You've been through a rigorous training exercise and I want you to get some rest now."
Platinum sulked like a child that got yelled at and slowly walked out of the room. The door closed and Doctor William Magnus laid down on the bed, shaking his head. A quick nap might be able to clear his head…
Next Chapter:
While preparing for her battle with the Justice League, Fatality is confronted by Star Sapphire. Let the cat-fighting begin!