Biomorph

The police station was a busy as usual, with villains being caught, and heroes collecting bounties. Overclock was conversing with the police chief, whilst Pyromancer was checking for new bounties.

Both heroes jumped up as officer Gihring burst onto the floor, babbling about the Ice Felon, and armour. "Calm down, what do you mean?", inquired Pyromancer.

The door opened to admit a giant, clad in full-body, hunter green armour, with a rather familiar, white-clothed individual in its arms - the Ice Felon, who had just escaped Pyromancer and Overclock's clutches

"Hello, officer. This man tried to jump me. I am turning him in." stated the giant, turning to the chief.

"Yes! Well, I can see that!" laughed the chief, motioning for the officer in charge of the rewards to be ready to make scan the hero card. "If we could please see your hero card?"

Beta 42 froze. He needed a card to turn people in? That seemed a bit over cautious. And unnecessary. I mean, is every person who ever could be a witness required to have one?

"I did not know one was required for turning a villain in." admitted Beta 42.

The Chief laughed and shook his head. "No, for the reward money! You knew about that, right?"

"There was a reward for him?", queried Beta 42. "I did not know. I just didn't want him jumping anyone else. Not everyone has my advantages in that situation."

"Isn't that true! Come on, I'll issue one to you. What's your hero persona named?" asked the chief, more than prepared to help this new hero out.

Beta 42 stood there, thinking for a few minutes, spinning combinations of words in his head, and checking with his AI, until he finally came up with...

"Biomorph. The name's Biomorph."

The Major growled and punched the screen. Now, couldn't just grab him and go, he would have to engineer the perfect accident. What a waste. Over 20 years, and billions of credits, had been spent on project Sigma Potens, from the first idea to Beta 42's escape. He decided that he would just watch the show for now and turned on the failsafe. He may as well kill him, and take the DNA left behind to create Gamma 2, the latest in the project. This time, however, he would be used as a hivemind, to prevent these thoughts of escape...

He flinched, however, when he realized that he had a message from the General. He now had to explain what had happened...

Overclock watched 'Biomorph' leave the station, and then turned to his partner.

"How would you feel if our company gained a member?" queried Overclock.

Pyromancer smiled. "S&R inc. could use another person..."

Beta 42 just made it to the top of the station before the failsafe kicked in. A combination of Ricin, Tetanospasmin, Tetrodotoxin, and Cyanide coursed through his veins, released from strategically placed capsules embedded near Beta 42's circulatory system. It would have been fatal, if Beta 42 had not found out about these a couple of years ago, and increased his immunity to these gradually, until the levels in his blood did nothing to him. It also helped he had slowly been draining this mixture, so only a droplet was actually released.

He then decided to remove the antenna that had received the signal, and so set to work on his neck.

Overclock bounded up the stairs in time to see Biomorph slit the back of his throat, pull a long bit of metal out, and chuck it away. Overclock smirked, seeing the healing factor on Biomorph was way higher than average. He couldn't get better, right?

After checking that the antenna wasn't going to grow back, he flapped the leathery wings he had grown for himself and took off, making for the one building he knew was safe from the eyes of the military.

He couldn't have been more wrong. The school building had military men all over it, as they scanned the details of each student in turn. This would call for some quick thinking. And an identity created by his AI. Both were crucial. Now, what would his new name be? It was decided by the AI and uploaded to the school's system within a few minutes.

"Josh Jones?"

"Here!" smiled Beta 42, now Josh.

"Alright, come on then. Class 12-P. You know the way?" barked the soldier.

"Yes sir!" smiled 'Josh', glancing at the map his AI had downloaded for him. "See you around!"

Overclock and Pyromancer landed near the school a few minutes later, and changed out of their costumes, with ease born of a lot of practice. Waving at the guard, they strolled in, and made their way to their form. They were excited, already planning the missions they could take with that wall of power fighting with them.

Class 12-R was always lively in the morning, as everyone wanted to boast of their favorite heroes' exploits. Today, however, they saw there was a new face. And he looked like the perfect target to bully. Skinny, pale, and about as threatening as a rabbit.

Ayla, the top girl in that particular class, took one look, and decided that the new kid would be her newest conquest. Why not, when every other boy in the year would be hers in a heartbeat? She couldn't wait to find out about him...

Josh stood there, at the front of the class, surveying his new peers, and matching their powers to their faces. unsurprisingly, most powers were "physical: self", with a few "mental: others" thrown in the mix. For instance, Ayla Albrecht. Rich, upper-class family, lived in the posh section of town, and had a power that allowed her to change people's deepest desires. Well, his mental shields should hold - there had been at least 5 "mental: others" in the beta program that he had met, and he had copied all their mental shields, with improvements.

However, the "physical: others" surprised him. They weren't as common. What an interesting class...

Just then Mr. Stutts decided to turn up, encased in his usual cloud of paperwork and books. "Settle down, then.", he sighed.

"As the more astute of you have seen, we have a new student. Mr. Jones, introduce yourself please."

Josh took a step forward, and his mouth twitched upwards after realizing that at least half the class was already classifying him as 'other' "Hey. I'm Josh, I'll be part of your class from now on. I read, and I follow my heroes as hobbies."

Ayla leaned over to her friend, Silvia, and whispered "He'd make a great courier, right? Also, homework help would be a plus, right?"

Silvia giggled and replied "You better get a move on. Certain other people might decide he looks good."

Arthur and Joel looked at each other and nodded. The way he stood left them in no doubt - that was Biomorph. No doubt. No one other than an armoured hero could have skin that pale, and those eyes that gave that eerie green reflection when the light shone into them had been glinting in the same way at the station. They would approach him during PE, when they could use their powers.

What better time for a test, then when he could really let loose?