MangaDCU: Metal Men 2.0

Metal Men 2.0

After making my Lab Rats picture showcasing Will Magnus alongside his/her creation (Gold), I wanted to update the images of the entire team. I also wanted to give some storyline spotlights to the characters on the team and progress their development.

Left to right:
Tin, Iron, Platinum, Doc Magnus, Gold, Lead, Copper, Mercury.

Origin: nightshade475.deviantart.com/a…
LabRats: nightshade475.deviantart.com/a…

Tin
Primary Function: Air Rescue
Primary Weapon: Luster Cannon: Low intensity, Low duration
Secondary weapon: Rotary blades
Innate Ability: Defense against sonics and harmonics (Tin Ear)

Will designs a second set of Metal Men as companions for her originals. They are opposite genders to the originals: Silver(Gold), Cobalt(Iron), Zinc(Tin), Osmium(Lead), Gallium(Platinum), Iridium(Mercury), and Nickel(Copper) . She later scraps the project, but Tin finds them and completes the construction (against Doc's wishes), as he feels it is unfair for Tina to pine endlessly after Doc with no hope of reciprocation, and for Gold to do the same with Tina. The originals all start out liking the new arrangement (even the hesitant Mercury and Iron) until they realize that this new group wants to replace them entirely.


Iron
Primary Function: Heavy Machinery Rescue
Primary Weapon: Tool Axe
Secondary weapon: Spike Cannon
Innate Ability: Ferromagnetism
Mark Scheffer, a former American R.O.T.C. student turned Japanese exchange student juvenile delinquent, had broken into the S.T.A.R. Labs facility after being encouraged through intimidation from his step-father, Marshel Kirovan Kafka, a Russian dignitary, living in Japan. He was turned into an metapowered being through a lab accident he triggered while trying to escape the lab's security agents. Now going by the name, Shrapnel, Mark is a being made of organic metal, and has superhuman strength and stamina. He doesn't have to eat or sleep in this form. In addition, the metal plates on Shrapnel's body can be projected into explosive bursts. Each scale is a living organism controlled by Shrapnel's consciousness, so once fired they can be directed and recalled at will. Pieces lost by Shrapnel will eventually die, but he can regenerate new ones. Iron had made friends with Mark prior to the accident, as the boy had found the robot one night in his dad's abandoned garage working on a project. After the accident, Shrapnel went to make Kafka pay. Iron was alerted to who he really was by something he had said before fleeing, and went to his home to stop him from killing Kafka. The two fought, with Shrapnel claiming that if Iron were a true friend he'd be helping him, not trying to stop him. Realizing he had been distancing himself from his team for a similar reason, Iron told Mark that true friends not only help you clean up mistakes, they keep you from making them, and called in the rest of the Metal Men to help take him down.

Gold
Primary Function: Tactical Response & Rescue
Primary Weapon: Luster Cannon: High intensity, Maximum duration
Secondary weapon: Gold Dust dispersal
Innate Ability: Ductility (Gold Strands)

The Sizzler is an artificial life-form created by Professor Shesha Hebinoke (Snakelocks) , a disgraced scientist formerly affiliated with S.T.A.R. Labs. Utilizing photo-molecular energy siphoned from the Aurora Borealis, the robotic creation had access to an array of molecular reconstructive abilities. She used these abilities to turn the Metal Men into humans and transformed "Doc" Will Magnus into a robot. Like Platinum, Sizzler seemed to be in love with Doc, getting jealous when he would show affection to Platinum and vice-versa. She figured with "him" as a robot, like her, and "Tina" human, she would be the only suitable mate for him. During their time as humans, Gold realized that he had feelings for Tina when she attempted to explore her new ability of sensation by kissing him. Although they both enjoyed the experience, he realized that she did not fully share these feelings, when she sacrificed herself to save Doc from The Sizzler's clutches. The Sizzler appeared to have exploded when Tina tried to add a responsometer, causing metal shards to plunge into her now human heart. Before she went completely offline, Will was able to reconfigure The Sizzler's emitters and funneled energy from within her own robot body to trigger a transformation of the human Metal Men back to their robot bodies, saving Tina's life and risking that of her own. The team revived Doc and shielded themselves from a secondary explosion that left no traces of The Sizzler's remains. Whether Sizzler really exploded or not (considering how powerful and unpredictable she really is, something that Hebinoke tried to warned Doc Magnus about) is currently unknown.


Mercury
Primary Function: Fire Rescue
Primary Weapon: Liquid Metal morphing
Secondary weapon: Omni Sword
Innate Ability: Heat sensitivity

Teen designer drug dealer from Magda's old school, Ramsay Norton was an over privileged chemistry major at the School that Magda Williams had (literally) made her home. After taking the identity of Will Magnus, Magda abandoned her makeshift lab in the school's sub basement for her new one at S.T.A.R. Labs. Ramsay found her old lab and figured it be the perfect place to set up shop for his new designer drug lab. He experimented endlessly with various chemical combinations, disposing of the results of his failed experiments to make the most intense party drug ever, in an enormous vat. When students started having severe overdoses from drugs that were not only mind altering, but body as well; Will came to investigate. She tracked the drug down to a dealer who went by the street name; Chemo, The Chemical King. Will found Ramsay in the lab and confronted him, a fight ensued and Ramsay fell into the vat with the discarded various chemical combinations mixed in with the new drug he'd created and the immersion changed his body into a walking toxic spill. the lab caught fire and Will alerted her Metal Men Rescue team to the impending danger. Using his thermal imaging sensors, Mercury was able to locate Doc's body signature even through the blaze of the lab. He got to her just time, and had to keep her safe from Chemo's attacks until the others could converge on their location. The Metal Men saved their creator and prevented the lab from exploding all while engaging in battle with the deadly chemical monster Chemo.


Platinum
Primary Function: Sea Rescue
Primary Weapon: Luster Cannon: Maximum intensity, Minimum duration
Secondary weapon: Blingshot (channels Luster Cannon along the surface of body)
Innate Ability: Corrosive resistance

Harumi Karin, the girl that Magda saved that put her at odds with the gang of bullies that terrorized Magda at her previous school, noticed Will when "he" was on campus investigating the numerous drug overdoses. Harumi recognized the one who had saved her from the bad situation she had gotten herself into and wanted to thank him the best way she knew how. She followed him back to the S.T.A.R. Labs. facility and offered herself to him as repayment for his kindness. Will tried as gracefully as possible to reject the offer, without revealing that "he" was really a "She". The metal men, responding to Will's shriek when he was surprised by a naked girl in his bed and saw the compromising situation with a variety of reactions to what they observed. Platinum had to be restrained from utilizing her Luster Cannon on the "harlot", as she put it. Will called for the others to escort Harumi back home, but he was unaware that she had been followed by the boys that Will had embarrassed and were waiting to find him for some payback. With no protectors, the gang jumped Will and began to beat him, in the process tearing his clothes and exposing him as a female. Armed with this knowledge, they planned to relay their findings to the entire school and online. Suddenly, Ashita Myounichi appeared with a device in hand. He aimed the weapon at each of them, vaporizing them. They were converted into elements by her mentor to protect her identity and maintain their cover. However, the experimental weapon did more than just vaporize the boys, it converted them into living gasses; Hydrogen (an explosive gas), Nitrogen (a freezing gas), Carbon Dioxide ( a flammable gas), Oxygen (an oxidizer, or rusting gas), Helium (a floating gas), and Chloroform (a knockout gas). After realizing what they'd become, they attack both Myounichi and Magnus who desperately fight to stay alive. Platinum, who had secretly stayed behind to give Doc a piece of her mind for frolicking with "the tart", saw the two in danger and instantly came to their aid. Platinum holds them off long enough for Doc to access the ventilation system to capture their gaseous forms and store them in her lab. Upon studying them, she discovers that their new forms are not so slowly dissipating. Feeling guilty, Doc crafts robotic containment suits for them while attempting to restore them to their former forms. The Gas Gang, however, are not as forgiving.


Copper
Primary Function: Medical Rescue
Primary Weapon: Luster Cannon: Moderate intensity, Moderate duration
Secondary weapon: Electro-Shockwave (channels electrical charge along the surface of body)
Innate Ability: Heat and Electrical conductivity

Copper winds up becoming friends with Harumi despite Tina's protestations, as she feels the need to have a friend outside of the team. She helps her prepare for a school fund raiser, as she has been having some difficulty with a certain group of mean girls. Referred to as The Plastics, they are the most popular girls in school. Since their attitude is quite dislikeable, the main reason of their fame and power is the fact that they are all extremely beautiful, and the prettiest and most glamorous girls in the entire school. an accident occurred at the school sponsored fashion show that Harumi organized and was taking place in an industrial factory owned by the head girl's father. The mostly female group of teen models are doused with chemically enhanced polymers, that liquefied their bodies and then rapidly hardened. after the accident, the leader's father used his considerable wealth to have the plastic remains sculpted into likeness of his beloved daughter and her friends to memorialize them. Irving Bravo, the models' agent used a stolen Responsometer to activate the group's new bodies, who had retained the memories of the girls(and boy). They blamed their demise on Harumi and sought revenge. Copper, who had been attempting to console her out of the guilt she felt, and was present for the mean girls grand reappearance. she protected Harumi long enough for her to escape and alert Will and the others. The Metal Men had a difficult time defeating the rechristened Plastic Perils: Ethylene, Styrene, Silicone, Methacrylate(male), Polyethylene, with Bravo taunting them that plastic was the way of the future. They were eventually defeated when Gold the leader of the Metal Men studied up on the properties of plastic and learns of their low melting point.



Lead
Primary Function: Hazmat Rescue
Primary Weapon: Scram Cannon
Secondary weapon: Lead Shower (rapid fire projectiles)
Innate Ability: Radiation Shielding

To show Magda that he was still the one who held all the power in their relationship, he bombards her creations with radiation, turning them into evil versions of themselves: The Death Metal Men; Uranium (Iron), Strontium (Mercury), Thorium (Platinum), Radium (Gold), Lithium (Copper), Polonium (Lead) and Fermium (Tin) . While on the run from her corrupted creations, Will figures out a way to convert Lead back to his original state, he uses his Rad Shields to protect her from the radioactive attacks of the others. Lead has to outwit the others into walking into a trap that Will sets up, that converts the rest back to their former selves. Some time after Will finds a way to convert them back, a complete set of spare bodies are stolen to recreate the team, forcing the originals to go head to head with them.


Doc Magnus
Primary Function: Creator, Inventor
Primary Weapon: N/A
Secondary weapon: N/A
Innate Ability: Genius Intellect

When the actual William David Magnus (son of Charles Milton Magnus) appears in the news and throws a wrench in Magda and Ashita's ruse, Myounichi again goes to any lengths to maintain his deception- as he still has not acquired the mystery item from Magnus' lab. David winds up in a robot body made of a green alien metal of his own called Veridium, vowing revenge on both mentor and student. As Veridium, Magnus was the most powerful of the Metal Men. He has the ability to store and channel heat and energy. He also possesses a luster cannon as powerful as Platinum with a duration as long as Gold.


- After Gold becomes distracted with his feelings for Platinum, Mercury loses faith in his leadership abilities and makes a bid to take control of the team's field operations. Tin felt he was best suited, but backed down when mercury challenged him. Merc's rigid leadership style turned off the other's which prompted him into thinking he could handle the job all on his own. He realized the folly in this when having to face Chemo alone and protect Doc at the same time. He removes himself from command and nominates Tin, as he was instrumental in taking him down.

- Gold's Gold Dust dispersal works by him emitting a cloud of particles made from the same material as his shell. He fires a beam of luster cannon energy into the cloud which is reflected and amplified off of each of the particles, creating a massive energy explosion. Utilizing a smaller beam from a finger creates a less devastating blinding effect, similar to the Blingshot.

- Since a Railgun utilizes an electromagnetic propulsion to launch a high velocity projectile, I decided to make that a weapon the is the joint combination of Iron and Copper. Lead now has a Scram Cannon (supersonic combustion ram cannon), which is a kinetic energy weapon based on ram accelerator technology.

- Since Lead is usually known for being dimwitted, I wanted to give him an opportunity to Outsmart not only an adversary, but the entire team as well.

- I made mainstream character, Helen Gurin (a love interest of Doc's) -Harumi, the girl she saved from the gang of thugs. I like the idea of Magda/Will being like Tenchi Masaki/ Haurhi Fujioka with all of these potential suitors and her not only not knowing what to do with them, but also maintaining this enormous secret regarding her identity. The fact that she's attracted to boys, that see her as "one of the guys" also makes for interesting dynamics.

- Iron can generate spikes of different sizes to either fire from his Spike Cannon, or use in combat as a javelin or spear. he can also mold his tool axe into different tools to use on machinery as well as convert parts of his body (usually his arms) into tools used for rescue operations (jackhammer, jaws of life, buzz saw, etc.)

- I chose Tina to be the sea rescue operative due to her having the highest level of resistance to corrosion....and I was running out of rescue operations.

- "Luster" is a metal's state or quality of shining by reflecting light. I made the metal's natural luster dictate the power of their respective cannon.

- Platinum starts to have a violent mental breakdown when she discovers Will is secretly a female, which is diffused when says her name is Magda Williams. Tin realizes the explosive potential for the situation and explains that Magda was "covering" for Will while he was safe in an undisclosed location. After a few tense moments, she accepted the story, standing down and returning to her normally bubbly self. She begrudgingly thanked Magda for her help, followed by pointing a finger at her accusingly saying, "I'm watching you...!"

- In my initial Metal Men pic, I posted personality descriptions for each of them that were from psychologist, Carl Jung's "16 personality types." I chose the ones that seemed to fit the character most.
I've since decided that the type that I chose for Platinum didn't fully encompass who she was. here is the updated one:
- Warm-hearted, popular, fun-loving, and conscientious. Likely to be the center of attention in social situations. Tends to put the needs of others over own needs. Dislikes theory and impersonal analysis. Feels strong sense of responsibility and duty. Values traditions and security. Interested in serving others. Well-developed sense of space and function, with a potential for instability if this is challenged. Needs positive reinforcement to feel good about self. Fiercely loyal and territorial.