These days, the superheroes get all the attention. What's the point of being proud of yourself for learning to program your VCR or getting the last on-sale bag of chips at the store when someone else is saving the world from a plague of alien parasites or disrupting the fiendish plots of mad scientists? Victor Thomas is one of the unfortunates who wasn't born with any super powers, or even a vast fortune that would help him buy cool gadgets and things.
Victor did everything he could to try to improve himself: he went on every field trip his university had to the nuclear power plant, worked as a janitor at a genetic engineering lab, read every book on mysticism and the occult the library had, and tried to sneak onto the weapon research grounds. Nothing worked, though he did pick up some interesting rashes and once all his hair fell out. Finally he resigned himself to a mediocre life and sat on his couch watching TV, waiting between reigns of terror over the city.
Even though all of his attempts to become super-powered had failed, a huge irony awaited him as when he least expected it he was thrust into the world of superheroes. One day he was watching a news story one day about a couple of extremely advanced alien commandoes who were being besieged by an entire battalion of the US Army. Suddenly there was a commotion on the street outside and he stepped out to see what the fuss was. People were standing around on the street, pointing up and talking excitedly. He looked up to see an object hurtling through the sky, trailing thick oily smoke behind it and burning so brightly it was impossible to say what shape it was. Then it slowly started to bank to the side as it continued its dive towards the ground. Victor was startled as he noticed that it seemed to be banking straight toward him. Soon the roar of the object was heard and it grew quickly until Victor had to squeeze his hands to his ears to drown it out. The object now appeared large and very close. Then, as he watched, it sailed over his head and smashed into his house, skidding to a stop in his back yard. He walked in the still-standing front door and through the remains of his house. The back wall was completely gone and through it he could see an elliptical, smoldering object about the size of a mobile home.
It was badly banged up and as he walked closer he noticed that it was covered with plasma burns, no doubt from orbital defense satellites. He realized that it must have been sent to help the aliens who were fighting the Army, but what could fit into such a small container that could possibly help them take on the whole US Army?
Walking around the craft, Victor noticed that on the far side a hatch had come partially open. He pried it open, noting with surprise that the metal had cooled quickly and was now only slightly warm to the touch. The inside of the craft was a mess from the hits it had taken and the rough entry and landing. Most of it was full of food, ammunition, and power cells, but what really got Victor's attention was a suit of armor partially standing in the middle of the pod. It was steel blue and bulky, looking strangely insect-like and no doubt made to fit a being somewhat larger than a human.
Victor sensed that everything else had been merely sent since there was still room in the craft: it was this armor that was to save the aliens from the army. Unfortunately, it had been badly busted up in the crash, no doubt because its self-preservation had been offline during transport. Victor walked up to it and lifted the right arm of the suit, which came off. Most of it looked grey and dead, but tiny light glowed in parts of the glove. He removed the glove from the rest of the arm and stuck his hand inside. He was surprised when it seemed to try to attach itself to him, grabbing his hand feebly with something inside. He quickly removed his hand and put down the glove.
Any normal person might have left the suit there and called the proper authorities to remove all this from his backyard, but Victor was intrigued. He ran into his garage and brought back a set of tools. He then put the glove back onto his hand and, grabbing a hammer with his other hand, hammered the glove on. Immediately a feeling of power shot through his hand into his whole body and the glove started to move easily, like his own hand would. He went through the rest of the armor, taking out any pieces that seemed to still be functioning and hammering them into him. When he was done he was wearing about one third of the suit and he felt like his life had finally begun.
Victor now has a lot of the Destructor armor attached to himself. Other than the glove, he has an occular piece and some electronics hammered into his face, a shoulderpad and part of an arm hammered into his left arm,, both boots and greaves attached to his feet, most of the breastplate over his chest and back, and a communications relay set into his cheek and chin. The power cells that came in the pod power the armor, which increases Victor's strength and stamina and makes him almost immune to damage. Even his unarmored parts are boosted by the armor and made better than the average human.
Now that his chance has finally come, Victor is determined to make the most of it. He is rather easygoing, liking nothing better than to hang out with other superheroes and show off in front of ordinary citizens. Still, he remembers that not so long ago he, too, was an ordinary guy, so he tries not to go too over-the-top with the boasting. More than anything Victor is just glad that he finally has a chance to make a difference and make his dreams come true.
He uses the armor to take jobs fighting criminals and anyone who would threaten his city. So far his experiences with super-heroism have been mixed, but hey, he's getting better. And he's fairly sure that his thoughts of turning the suit to his own ends and trying to make some quick money are nothing more than idle dreams...