1 Chapter 1

It had been a few weeks since Henry Hardman had gained his powers… ever since he fell in that vat of radioactive waste, his life had never been the same.

…No, that's not right, he was hit by some sort of ray gun, right? Granting him his amazing power.

No that wasn't it either, it was that meteor that he had found… it granted him cosmic power.

But no, that also wasn't right, he's had these powers since birth… right? His father was an alien, and he gained his powers…

No, no, no… that wasn't right either… he was experimented on, kidnapped from his home, and subjected to horrific experiments alongside several others. He was the only survivor.

For some reason, Henry couldn't remember exactly how he had gained these powers, but he's had them for a decent while now.

He was capable of absorbing the properties of anything he touched.

If he was touching stone? He became stone. The same could be said for wood, dirt, concrete, metals, and practically any physical object he was currently touching. He even learned how to partially transform a part of his body into a different property, as long as he had the property he was transforming it into, constantly on his person.

He was also capable of shifting his limbs into objects, such as swords, hammers, shields, axes, and other tools.

He tried absorbing electricity once, and that was… bizarre, as he could feel himself going everywhere and nowhere all at once. Though, he's also attempted to transform into liquids and gasses, though he simply wasn't able to, it was as if there was some sort of blockage to his powers.

But that stuff didn't matter, at the moment he was prowling the streets of Gotham, wearing a makeshift costume, consisting of a black bandana covering the upper half of his face and his long blond hair (Zorro Style, hell yeah), a padded gray jacket, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of steel-toed brown boots.

He also had a few bracelets on either of his arms, made of wood, stainless steel, and plastic. These were for quick transformations on his arms to give his punches an extra oomph.

He'd already taken out a few criminals, mostly muggers who he simply knocked out and told their near-victim to call the cops, and a few attempted rapists… he didn't go as easy on them. They were lucky to get away with just a pair of broken legs.

Henry had been doing this for the past few days now, his powers and making sure to stay close to the plethora of Gotham City's concrete or brick buildings to gain a quick power up, allowing him to swiftly take out most any person who got in his way.

Things were going as they normally did for Henry, he'd go to a job he hated, then when he got off of work, he'd take out a few assholes, and then grab something at the nearest fast food joint before going back to his crummy apartment and getting some sleep in, before doing it all over again.

A pretty stable routine… and it just had to be ruined.

Henry had heard the sound of screaming, so he ran into an alleyway to see a group of four men surrounding a pair of teenagers, weapons in hand.

"Alright brats, give us yer money and nobody has to get hurt" One of the men, wearing a tattered jacket with a rat emblem stitched onto its shoulder pad said with a grin, as he brandished a wooden baseball bat.

"Well, we won't hurt you much" Another man wearing a pair of… Mickey Mouse ears said with a crooked smile as he took out a pocket knife.

Henry had seen enough, as he used his wood bracelet to turn his arms into wood, feeling the oak form over his arms, as he whacked one of the men in the back of the head knocking him out instantly.

The first man with the baseball bat turned in shock, before swinging at Henry.

So, Henry simple grabbed the bat, and absorbed it, gaining the property of… Ashwood.

"You shouldn't have done that" Henry said, as he body checked the man, sending him flying into a nearby wall.

During the fight, the two teenagers had run away saying their thanks, as Henry fought off the two remaining men.

It was fairly easy to take them out as well, a simple matter of hitting them on their heads, before calling the police.

He was going to leave the alleyway, but found himself stopped…

By some homeless looking asshole in a tattered coat, and gasmask with a stick in-hand, and a bunch of rats by his side.

"So, this is the asshole who's been taking out my men? Well no more! None shall survive the wrath of The Ratcatcher!!!" The Ratcatcher shouted out, as the rats began to swarm around Henry and the unconscious men.

'What the hell is he talking about? I've only been taking out muggers and scum. Not targeting any gangs, unless these are his men…' Henry thought to himself as he looked at the unconscious men around him, before he quickly placed his arm on the concrete wall beside him, his skin quickly morphing into the property of concrete, feeling his sense of touch dull, before he used his powers through one of his bracelets, his hands shifting into a new form…steel mallets.

"I don't know what you're talking about, man. But I'm not about to let you give me the Black Plague or whatever sort of disease those vermin have. It's time for some Whack-a-Mole!" Henry said with a grin, as he quickly began to smash his mallet-hands downwards, splattering one to three rats with every strike.

But, for every mouse that he killed, ten more would take its place. Creating an unrelenting tide of rats. That had eventually overwhelmed the unconscious men… and began to tear at their flesh.

"Dear God man! They're your men what the hell are you doing!?" Henry shouted in shock, as he splattered more rats.

"If they were weak enough to fall to you, then they weren't truly my men. Now, you fool! My rats will overwhelm you eventually, no matter what type of Metahuman power you may have! For no matter the quality one man may possess, my rats possess the quantity to outmatch all! Even Superman!" The Ratcatcher shouted uncaringly, as he pointed his stick towards Henry, causing the rats to attack far more ferociously than before, while the others ripped the unconscious men into pieces… they were definitely dead.

'How the hell do I beat a literal unending swarm of rats? Damn you Gotham City… why did you have to be so… so Gotham City' Henry thought to himself, as he attempted to formulate some type of plan.

The rats were unable to get through his concrete skin, but he was still being pushed back by the swarm of rats, and he knew that if they got onto him? It'd be a simple matter to suffocate him…

Asphyxiation via rat… that'd be a hell of a thing to read on an obituary.

The rats attempted to scurry up his leg, but he quickly created spikes over himself, stabbing through the rats that were on him, before an idea came to him.

It was risky… but, it was better to die via fall damage, than being suffocated by rats of all things.

And so, Henry quickly transformed his hands from steel mallets, into the form of steel pickaxes… before he leaped upwards, and began to climb on the side of the concrete building.

He got around twelve feet high getting away from the rats, before the inevitable happened, and the pick-hand he had, was unable to penetrate the concrete, and he began to fall downwards.

But, instead of falling back to where he was before, he swung with all his might, towards The Ratcatcher, inevitably landing on the man… crushing him under his weight.

After all, he was still made of concrete. So, here he was, a man-sized mass of concrete landing on someone from a dozen feet high… at an angle?

Yeah, that'd cause at least some semblance of damage.

Especially since he had landed on The Ratcatcher's chest, probably breaking at least two ribs, from the cracks he had heard.

The rats quickly became frenzied, but stayed away from Henry, as they saw that he was on top of their master, his hands still in the shape of pickaxes.

He looked at the rats, then at the surroundings, noticing a humanoid figure on one of the rooftops, then back at The Ratcatcher, before his hands returned to their normal state, and he lightly punched the man… sending him unconscious immediately.

And then? Well, he ran like hell was on his heels, which in a way… it was.

After all, he knew that he caught a glimpse of The Batman back there.

Oh, and the rats were hot on his heels, for attacking their master.

It was then and there, that Henry knew this was just the start to a long night.