Ethan wasn't born different, he became different. One scorching summer afternoon, twelve-year-old Ethan chased a rogue soccer ball into a derelict industrial yard. A rusted sign, barely clinging to a crooked fence, warned of hazardous waste, but teenage bravado eclipsed caution.
The murky pool he stumbled upon wasn't stagnant water – it was a vat of discarded acid. A searing pain erupted as Ethan fell in, the acid eating through his clothes and scorching his skin. He screamed, a primal terror clawing at his throat, before unconsciousness mercifully swept him away.
Weeks of nightmarish agony in the hospital followed. Ethan clung to the blurry faces of his parents, their fear a constant undercurrent. The doctors were grim. The acid had burned deep, leaving behind a patchwork of raw scars. But something else had changed.
Ethan discovered his newfound power when he accidentally knocked over a glass of milk. The glass didn't shatter. Instead, it became hazy, etched with intricate spiderweb cracks. Panic seized him, but then the milk evaporated, leaving the glass strangely unharmed. Hesitantly, Ethan touched a raised scar on his arm. A faint tingling sensation spread, and a metallic tang filled his mouth. He concentrated, picturing the glass again. This time, it shattered with a sharp crack, the shards dissolving into a harmless white dust.
News of the "Acid Boy" spread like wildfire. Reporters hounded Ethan, scientists poked and prodded, and whispers of a freak turned weapon swirled through the air. Ethan retreated into himself, his once vibrant personality dissolving like the glass he could shatter.
One night, a shadowy figure materialized from Ethan's nightmares – a man with skin like molten rock, his eyes glowing a malevolent red. This was Caustic, a villain who reveled in destruction, and he saw Ethan as a kindred spirit, a weapon he could control.
Fear turned to a cold resolve within Ethan. He wouldn't be a weapon. He would control his power, not the other way around. With the help of a reclusive scientist, a woman ostracized for her theories on bio-mutation, Ethan began to hone his abilities.
He learned to manipulate the acidity of his touch, to create razor-sharp acidic claws or shields of hardened, neutralized acid. He trained his mind to focus his power, channeling it with precision. The once-terrifying scars became a symbol of his strength, a constant reminder of his transformation.
Ethan, the Acid Boy, became Corrosion, a hero wrestling with the duality of his power. He fought not just villains, but the fear and prejudice that his difference inspired. His journey was one of self-discovery, of embracing the extraordinary within the ordinary, and of proving that even what is broken can become something powerful.