Hazel hadn't been in the super hero business for very long. He'd only fully recovered from his accident for maybe a year before his friend Nails had discovered the just perfect combination of cables, magnets, and other things to create Hazard's super strong limbs, and it had taken another four or five months of trips out in the middle of the desert to get a better hand on them. It had been only about seven months since that point, a whole two years and change since he'd been nearly blown away by a super 'hero,' but he already knew one thing. When a hero threw down with a really powerful nasty, some bright ass criminal was going to try and rob a bank.<br/><br/>The moment the police scanner started blaring an MME in progress (massive monster event), Hazel rushed to his garage and jumped on his custom bike and winged his backpack over his shoulders. He flipped a switch on the bag. Suddenly a dozen metal plates and cables shanked out of it, pulling over his head and torso, hooking into his arms and legs, and finally covering his face with satisfying metal thunk. He became Hazard, the Metal Man and in no time he was on the streets, his bike thrumming away as he blazed around the city. He could feel more then hear the impacts of monster feet in the distance through the tires on his bike, but he wasn't paying attention to that now. He was looking for a crime.<br/><br/>It didn't take long. As soon as Hazard started to get close to the monster's rampage zone, he heard the gunshots. Immediately, the HUD on his suit pinpointed the sound and Hazard came blazing around the corner to see nothing short of an armored vehicle under attack. A dozen men, each armed with a different highly illegal weapon, had already dragged the bleeding body of the driver out from the cab, and two other guards were already bleeding on the side walk. Hazard had just enough time to see the money in the back being shut away before he was spotted.<br/><br/>"Shit!" one yelled, "It's that new metal punk!" Hazard grinned under his mask. With one swift motion, he set his bike to automatic park, and leaped. The momentum he had carried him up through the air, almost literally flying at the robbers.<br/><br/>"Damn STRAIT!" he yelled, his voice distorted by the helmet but just as angry as his real voice ever was. He landed on the sidewalk and spiderwebbed the cement with the impact. "I'm Hazard, the Metal Man." He said cooly, and then moved.<br/><br/>Most people's reflexes were untrained, untested, and therefore unfit. Hazard had been brushing with death before he ever started with the hero stuff, and it showed. The closest guy didn't even have time to blink before Hazard struck out with an open palm strike that tased him and sent him flying into a second. The next closest guy had his gun halfway up before Hazard caught it, and with his steel hands crushed the expensive rifle. He palm, struck that one too, the electric pulse leaving him unconscious. It did, however, give the remaining nine enough time to think, and that's when it got interesting.<br/><br/>"Shit!" the one guy yelled again, "Shoot him NOW!"<br/><br/>The men complied, and bullets started flying. Bullets ripped thought he air at Hazard from every angle as he moved. Most of them hit, and simply ricocheted off, some of them hitting the ground, others hitting buildings or even the car. Three men went down by re-directed fire before Hazard could even get to them. Hazard quickly drew his bat and struck out at the gun of a fourth, shattering it in the gunman's hand before lashing out with a heel kick that knocked the attacker back. Hazard spun on his heels and struck out at another's legs, audibly breaking the mans shin bones, followed by a simple touch of the palm to stun him as he went down. Hazard rushed two more immediately, charging his bat as he swung it to electrocute one just as he grabbed the other and shoved him down into the sidewalk. the whole thing lasted only a few seconds before the gunfire stopped.<br/><br/>"Well I guess that's all..." Hazard started, but suddenly the armored car's engine roared to life and the steely vehicle's tires squealed as it shot off. "... of them," he finished. Without taking the time to find his bike, Hazard 'flexed his legs just the right way, and they suddenly unfolded, becoming more angular. The moment the last piece clamped into place, Hazard was off like a shot.<br/><br/>He bounded down the street after the car, his legs now configured for speed as opposed to accuracy. The car drifted a corner and Hazard ran after them, cutting into the sidewalk and leaving footprints in the sidewalk as we went. He started closing in on the car, and then the back door opened to one of the goons, ready to open fire.<br/><br/>"Oh no you don't!" Hazard yelled. Not wanting to give him the chance, Hazard pulled his arm back and let his baseball bat fly. His aim was true, and the metal cylinder pegged the gunner square in the head, knocking him back into the car. Then, with one final leap, Hazard landed in the open doors of the car.<br/><br/>He walked up to the back of the cab as he heard the sounds of Samaritan engaging the monster several blocks away.<br/><br/>"Like shooting fish in a BARROL!" He yelled, and with a swift kick, he punched through the back of the cab into the drivers seat. He quickly used both hands to pry the hole open and poked his torso through. The last gunman, the one that had ordered the open fire, sat stunned as Hazard's empty, steely mask stared him down. The gunman tried to pull up his gun, but Hazard immediately grabbed the gun and tossed it out the window, shattering the glass.<br/><br/>"If you're not going to watch the road..." Hazard started, and reached for the wheel. Just as he almost had it, there was a sudden, defining crash that shook the ground itself. The sound of a massive creature smashing through dozens of stories of glass and steel  was accompanied by a tremor that suddenly knocked the vehicle sideways. The world rotated and then shook again as the car landed on it's side. Air bags deployed at the impact and Hazard was thrown from his hole, through the font windshield, and into the street. Out of pure instinct, Hazard curled into a ball and managed to land and roll to his feet. He immediately spun around and struck out, catching the still moving car and stopping it in it's tracks as the metal of the front bent around his fist.<br/><br/>There was a long silence punctuated only by the stemming of the engine, a few distant city sounds and the soft moaning of the man in the drivers seat. Then a voice in Hazard's ear piece crackled to life.<br/><br/>"...Aaaaaaaand done," it said. Hazard relaxed visibly at the mark.<br/><br/>"That one was kinda cool," he said to the voice. "did you get all of it?"<br/><br/>"All through the helmet," the voice confirmed, "The new streaming software looks great. I can't wait to see how our followers respond to THIS."<br/><br/>"Come on Nails," Hazard groaned, "I know you post all of this stuff, but I need you to make sure it was running so I don't get arrested for some sort of bullshit! You know how it works, if I don't have something to back me up, they could say I was the one trying to steal stuff, and THEY tried to stop me. I have to get this down in physical evidence."<br/><br/>"Yeah yeah, I heard you," Nails responded flippantly. "I'm pretty sure no one could ever make it stick. I mean, you even operated at 33.42% against these guys so no one died! I mean, that's WAY more responsible then most of the guys out there. Even the pro's like Samaritan have unavoidable casualties."<br/><br/>"Well, I'm not them," Hazard said. "and I'm just glad that during an MME, most of the people around here get off the streets. All those bullets flying everywhere could have ended badly otherwise..."<br/><br/>"Well I'll get this posted on our site." Nails said, changing the subject.<br/><br/>"And to the cops?"<br/><br/>"Whatever you say boss," Nails assured him. "Besides, I'm fairly sure that a few of the local officers follow our blog."<br/><br/>Hazard couldn't help but smile at that.<br/><br/>"All right then, I'll keep looking. Stick around." Hazard finished. He mentally pressed a button, and his suit called out to his bike.  A few moments later, his motorcycle calmly drove around the corner, obeying all road signs and keeping under the speed limit. Hazard  jumped on and enjoyed the rumble of the engine for a moment. Most of the advanced stuff he used he had no idea how it worked, but Hazard knew how his bike worked, and took comfort in that. But he only had time to think about it for a moment. Soon, he kicked the bike into gear, glided by and picked up his bat, and was off again, leaving the rest for the police sirens he could hear in the distance. No doubt that even after the monster fight was done (as there were no more giant monster sounds in the background, any local could tell) people would try and take advantage of the chaos to score a little extra whatever they wanted. Hazard signed to himself at the thought.<br/><br/>It was going to be a long day.<br/><br/>________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br/><br/><br/>The sun was started to touch the horizon at the docks when Hazard finally decided to turn in for the day. He'd stopped the armored robbery from before, two jewelry store robberies, a gang related shootout, three electronic stood looters near the event site, and even rescued one cat from a tree. Most of them were much shorter then the armored car robbery, taking only minutes to stop, but all together they were a lot of things to do in one day, and he was exhausted.<br/><br/>"Hey Nails, are you there? I think I'll turn in for today." Hazard called, but wasn't quite expecting the response he received.<br/><br/>"Haz, you're not going to BELIEVE who I just finished taking a call from!" Nails said.<br/><br/>"What, a girl?"<br/><br/>"No you idiot it was... well technically it was a lady, but that's not the point!" Nails responded. "It was Samaritan's PERSONAL ASSISTANT, Gwen Vadar!"<br/><br/>"No shit?" Hazard asked.<br/><br/>"No shit man. She says Samaritan is looking for a sidekick and she's inviting YOU to come to his 'secret island' to audition or something!"<br/><br/>Hazard took a moment to soak that in. "Samaritan's sidekick..." He mused. Out of all the heroes in the world, Samaritan was arguably one of the best, if not one of the strongest. He also had a pretty bad collateral damage reputation, but maybe that's exactly the kind of mentor that Hazard could use. Hazard was still fairly new, and having that kind of experience could really help him. They had to be some sort of catch, but there was just a certain allure to the idea.<br/><br/>"How did she get your number?" Hazard asked, more out o curiosity.<br/><br/>"I have an untraceable number that if it were traced it would lead to old Principle Leeries house, but that's not the point. You're being invited to be in the same ROOM as SAMARITAN! There's no WAY you can turn this down!" Nails nearly ranted. Hazard thought it over once more.<br/><br/>"Fine, tell them they can find a place for a pick up, but warn them I'm not taking off the armor during the interview." Hazard said. "Not once."<br/><br/>"Sure thing boss!" Nails said. Hazard shook his head, he could almost HEAR Nails saluting. Hazard just leaned back in the seat of his bike. Today had really been an interesting day...