Captain America of the Railways protects fellow runaways from those who would exploit them.
Taking Up the Shield
A queer, Jewish kid from Hastings, Missouri, Aaron Fischer leaves home to escape his father’s abuse and homophobia after his mom dies from cancer. He runs away with his boyfriend Jeremy and rides the rails, becoming a wanderer. Though the couple eventually breaks up and Jeremy returns home, Aaron spends years on the railroad, forming a new family.
In one city, he hears from a friend that unhoused kids like him are disappearing. So Aaron sets out to find them, inspired by the Captain Americas before him. He checks a camp downtown but finds it abandoned, hearing that the Roxxon Energy Corporation cleared everyone out, followed by the Mayor bragging about removing the unhoused. Aaron investigates Roxxon’s facility only to be captured by a guard and taken to a desert facility along with other unhoused kids who had been taken and forced to work for the company. With a homemade mask, some paint and a makeshift shield made from a trash can lid, Aaron donned a Captain America-inspired costume and fought the Roxxon guards, liberating the captured teens.
Kinetic Shielding Powers
Aaron can absorb kinetic energy and as such, surround himself with a kinetic force-field. Despite being a literal shield, he wields a physical shield that he makes from a trash can lid. He later receives a shield made with an alloy known as Lunellum, which is capable of deflecting bullets and theoretically magic as well.
Foes
Aaron’s father is not only abusive and homophobic, but he also claims that Aaron killed his mother, driving a wedge between them and leading Aaron to run away from home.
While studying at the Avengers Academy, Aaron faces a few foes, most notably the new Sinister Six, led by Calvin Cuttle, AKA Squid Kid, and the energy vampire and mutant Marius St. Croix, AKA Emplate.
Aaron faces bigoted protestors and Hydra agents at the LGBTQ community center where he volunteers, and protects as many people as he can.
Friends and Avenger Allies
One of his few friends growing up in his hometown of Hastings is his mentor Glen Mackie, who teaches him how to box and offers him emotional support. Glen advises him to get out of Hastings as it’s a town full of bigots. His only other friend is his boyfriend Jeremy, whom he runs away with, though their relationship ends when Jeremy abandons him to return home. They eventually reconnect and patch up old wounds.
When Aaron attends the Avengers Academy, he becomes fast friends with his fellow students, Lunella Lafayette, AKA Moon Girl, who makes him a new shield, and the mutated Devil Dinosaur that shares a psychic link with Lunella; Aaron’s roommate Justin Jin, AKA Kid Juggernaut; the runaway Normie Osborn, AKA Red Goblin, whom Aaron bonds with over their similar backgrounds; the Daywalker Brielle “Bri” Brooks, AKA Bloodline, and the body and power-swapping Shela Sexton, AKA Escapade.
A History of Helping Others
When a train wreck in Astoria Park left passengers in need of assistance, Aaron set out to help them in his full getup. Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, and former Captain America Sam Wilson, AKA Falcon, stopped him, demanding to know what he was doing and Rogers accused him of causing the train wreck. In actuality, the culprit was a superfast Captain America lookalike known as Speed Demon. Taking off his mask, Aaron informed the Caps who he was, what he was about, and informed them that there were more people out there protecting their communities under the mantle of Captain America, a collective dubbed the Captains Network. Satisfied with Aaron’s explanation, the three Caps then helped the train’s passengers get to safety. This encounter led Aaron to help them in the endeavor to prevent Speed Demon and their ally Sinthea Shmidt, AKA Superior, and leader Warrior Woman from freeing clone Adolf Hitler, AKA Hate-Monger, and using Cap’s shields for their nefarious ends.
Aaron later attended a charity for the Roger Aubrey Center, named after Roger Aubrey, AKA Destroyer, where Captain America (Rogers) presented. When Rogers mentioned how AUbrey left a sizable donation to help the houseless and folks in the LGBTQ community, Aaron scoffed and told him he was out of his element, noting that entire states demonize his friends, allowing them to go hungry and homeless. He left Rogers stunned, and tried to grab a date while he was at it. Everyone was either coupled up already or not interested, save Jake Oh, who was embarrassed to say that they had already met and Brandon Sharpe, AKA Striker, who offered to trade numbers with him. Suddenly, the Avengers in attendance were pulled away to Midtown where the Serpent Society was mid-attack, but Aaron was told to stay behind since he didn’t have the power to offer enough backup, despite his bravery. Aaron then got word from his old flame Jeremy that his mentor Glen was found dead, and possibly murdered, back in Hastings. Resolved to return home, Aaron set off to investigate.
Back in Hastings, he met up with Jeremy who gave him the low down on Glen’s last whereabouts and how he was warning people about strange weather events. On the way to Glen’s house, Jeremy shared all the changes around town, like Alchemax building a new processing plant, and how billionaire Lawrence Lazek had pumped money into the city. Businesses were booming but Aaron saw it as gentrification. Jeremy also shared what he had done to build up the LGBTQ community in Hastings. Aaron was not pleased, however, considering how awful they were treated in Hastings when they were growing up for being different.
After arriving at their destination, Aaron noticed that the door was ripped off its hinges, and he remembered how Glen had been recently posting on social media about false tornado warnings. Though they couldn’t investigate any further as several guards in riot gear arrived and attempted to take them into custody. Aaron fought them off but got cut, leading him to go to the hospital where the emergency room was packed full of people who were sick from some strange light in the sky after receiving a tornado warning. Getting patched up, the boys soon ran into a man in a suit and tried to punch Aaron, which he dodged and Jeremy stood up for Aaron. The suit ran off as a result. Impressed with Jeremy and how he had changed, they pair shared a kiss and spent the night together.
The next day, Aaron and Jeremy continued their investigation and learned that others saw the light and Alchemax threatened to commit them to a hospital if they didn’t go with them to tornado cellars. The ones who go with Alchemax are never seen again. Aaron and Jeremy soon fought over the state of Hastings, with Jeremy defending himself for creating a better community for people like themselves, to feel safe. Billionaire Lawrence Lazek then held a press conference where he announced his new “Super-Soldier Serum,” a hyperkinetic power set for sale at 10 billion dollars per dose. Aaron surmised that Alchemax was poisoning the town to make their serum and set out to prove it.
Aaron infiltrated the Alchemax Manufacturing Plant with hopes to find anything related to the disappearances and deaths in Hastings. While searching for data in their computer systems, the man in the suit from the hospital got the jump on him and they fought. The man revealed that Lazek was blowing smoke, that no one had survived the tests and then subjugated Aaron to the test. But Aaron was strong enough to survive it and instead, he received kinetic abilities and could punch back harder than before and escaped the facility.
Reuniting with Jeremy, Aaron apologized and admitted that he could see what Jeremy was doing for queer kids growing up in Hastings. He invited Jeremy to come with him on the rails but Jeremy found that Hastings was where he belonged. Aaron hit the rails and back in New York, he informed Rogers and Wilson about Alchemax’s experiments. They said they’d make sure it wouldn’t happen again. They also had a doctor check Aaron out and informed him that he could be changed forever and he would need some training to understand his abilities better and become an Avenger someday. Excited at the prospect, Aaron then told Rogers that he’d like to volunteer at the Roger Aubrey Center and help others like his friend Glen helped him and Jeremy was helping queer kids back in his hometown.
Aaron was soon recruited to join the Avengers Academy, led by Avenger Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel. He met his roommate, Justin Jin, in the most awkward way possible (in a towel outside the showers) and they were suddenly attacked by Nazi scientist Fritz von Meyer, AKA Swarm, and his bees. The other students soon joined them in the ensuing fight. The super-intelligent Moon Girl (Lunella) was allergic to bees so Aaron extended his force-field to protect her, leaving himself vulnerable to the bees. After the team worked together to defeat Swarm, Aaron needed to recover from multiple bee stings.
While recovering, his roommate Justin wanted to chat and shared personal things about his family, like his father leaving and his mother raising him. Aaron was not so keen on sharing anything about his family though. Aaron then broke his trash can lid shield while learning how to fight from academy staff and X-Men James Howlett/Logan, AKA Wolverine, and Piotr Rasputin, AKA Colossus. But Lunella came in with a save, giving Aaron a shield crafted with a new alloy using Carbonadium and Mysterium. Academy teacher Shuri named the new alloy Lunellum, and it was designed to stop bullets and magic, the latter of which was still in the testing phase, however. Aaron was shocked and grateful for such a magnanimous gift.
Aaron then started volunteering at the Arnie Roth Community Center where he met a mysterious gent who, he soon discovered was actually Qaari Beck, AKA Mysteriant, relative of Quentin Beck, AKA Mysterio. Aaron caught him stealing medical supplies from a pharmaceutical company to give them away for free to hospitals in need. Aaron offered to help and afterward they partied and shared a kiss.
One weekend, Aaron joined Justin, Lunella and Red Goblin on a day trip to Coney Island, but Justin noted that Red Goblin couldn’t go in his face-covered slimy form. Aaron reassured Red Goblin that he could trust them and sure enough, he let down his symbiote, though none of them knew he was Normie Osborn, heir to the Alchemax and Oscorp fortunes. Aaron and Normie bonded over being runaways and Aaron was comfortable talking to Normie about some of his family history. The group soon found out about an attack on Alchemax, Oscorp and other corporations by the Sinister Six, and the news outed Normie’s relationship to the two companies to his friends. Aaron was shocked and Normie ran off to fix things by himself, afraid his friends wouldn’t accept him, especially considering Aaron’s history with Alchemax. When Normie returned defeated and lost his younger half-brother, Stanley, to the Sinister Six, Aaron and the others helped save Stanley. Aaron recognized that people aren’t their origins and accepted Normie.
Aaron soon got a new costume, designed by Janet Van Dyne, AKA the Wasp, though he didn’t quite feel like it was him. She boxed it up for him though just in case.
Aaron was soon possessed by the energy vampire Emplate, who took on Escapade’s powers and swapped places with her. While possessed, he attacked his roommate Justin. Though, Escapade fought Emplate with the help of the other students, and borrowed Aaron’s force-field and shield as well.
While Aaron volunteered at the Arnie Roth Community Center, violent bigots attacked. Justin was outside and hearing the attackers, he donned his armor, but the exterior was also under attack by a masked woman along with her minion, the Driscoll, which kept him busy. Qaari led people to safety on the roof and Aaron suffered permanent ear damage from the attack. Justin came to his aid and though Aaron was rattled, he insisted on donning his new costume to give people hope. He reached the roof and met the masked woman, who was revealed to be both social media Clikclock sensation Cherry Crane and Sinthea Shmidt, now called Sin, and an agent of Hydra. As Captain America, Aaron, Qaari and Kid Juggernaut stood up to her though she made a quick escape as she berated them. Afterward, Aaron attended a candlelight vigil at the center where Rogers was in attendance and Rogers apologized for not stopping the attackers. He commended Aaron for handling himself so well and told him that he reminded him of his old friend Arnie, for whom the center honored and who was also Jewish. Aaron then shared a Jewish prayer for the dead.
