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Madison Jeffries is a really good auto mechanic who's an immigrant from Canada. Those with the know how, would also know that he was a Mechanic First Class, US Army. He was Medically Discharged due to psychiatric issues, combat related. He also has a Purple Heart and an Afghanistan Combat ribbon.
Jeffries was a member of the Canadian Superhero team called Alpha Flight, alongside Box, Northstar, Aurora, Puck, Shaman, Snowbird, Sasqautch, and Vindicator. Recently both he and Box seem to have left the team however.
Background
Madison and his brother Lionel were born and raised in Toronto. When they hit puberty, each discovered they had developed Mutant abilities. Madison had the ability to mold and shape metal, plastic, silicon, glass and other such items into whatever forms his mind could create, while Lionel discovered he could do much the same with flesh and bone. Madison hated his powers and used them as little as possible. Lionel set his mind that it was a sign he was to become a Doctor and do great things. So while Lionel concentrated on studies and Medical school, Madison coasted along in life. He took some college classes but was more interested in the women there than his studies. He dropped out of College eventually and took some courses to learn to pilot small planes, then started studying how to build them, thinking of getting a job at an airport as a mechanic. When 9/11 happened, both brothers thought they should do something to help out America. Neither one hesitated as they began getting the visas and approvals needed to join the United States Army. Lionel became a medic, and Madison became a Mechanic First Class, both heading overseas together to Afghanistan. Madison kept his abilities in the closet, never using them unless he absolutely had to, but Lionel was ecstatic about how much he could help injured soldiers by knitting their bodies back together. That all changed however after an assault on a convoy that the two of them were in. Rockets and IEDs ripped apart vehicles and people alike, and no matter what he did, Lionel couldn't save all the massively injured people around him. He went insane, animated the dead soldiers, and Madison had to use his powers to stop their rampage and restrain his brother. The whole event caused him to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and both brothers were medically discharged from the Army and sent back to Canada for medical treatment and care.
While he was recovering from his experience, Madison met a double amputee named Roger Boches. They became close friends and together they worked on a project that Roger had envisioned to give himself legs again, The Box. Their work caught the eye of James MacDonald and Department H recruited them for its Superhero program. Roger progressed quickly from Gamma Flight to Beta Flight and was looking likely to become Alpha Flight, but Madison couldn't get past his past traumas. He didn't like the military feel of the place, didn't respond well to authority, and so he eventually washed out from Gamma Flight. He decided he needed a fresh start, one where he didn't imagine Government Agents watching him from around every corner, so he faked his own death and then proceeded to sneak into the United States. His skills quickly got him a job working as an auto mechanic where he could happily throw himself into his work. He tried to forget the events of Afghanistan even while he worried about how his Brother was progressing in treatment. He enjoyed being just a normal guy, not a Mutant freak or pawn for the Government anymore. Still... a part of him wondered what could have been, what it might have been like if he had managed to make it as a Hero...
While Madison was in America, he learned of the Death of Guardian. He headed back to Canada to try to find out more details, but found out that most of his other teammates from Gamma Flight had been recruited for something called Omega Flight. He tracked them down as they were trying to make their escape from Alpha Flight. Seeing the robot Courtney (who had tricked Guardian into the ambush that ended in his death) disguised as Guardian enraged Madison. He used his powers to turn the robot inside out and to capture the other Omega Flight members for the authorities. Alpha Flight invited him to join their ranks in thanks for his help.
Madison enjoyed the comradery more this time than he had in Gamma Flight. There were no tests or examinations, just acceptance from his teammates. And once again he was teamed up with the scientific genius Roger Boches, together creating all the incredible equipment the team would need. They even recreated the Guardian suit to give to his widow, allowing Heather to become Vindicator as the team leader.
Madison was forced to confront his past again with his brother Lionel. Heather found out about his brother while researching Madison's past, and went out to find him. Scramble manaded to get free of his restraints however and began using his powers to mutate everyone at the facility, including Heather, into monstrosities. Madison fought with him and managed to force Scramble to use his powers to heal himself. It seems to have worked, restoring Dr. Jeffries to sanity. He's set up a clinic to use his powers to try to help people once again.
After an incident under the Atlantic trying to help Namor and his love Marinna against Atlantean rebels, Roger Boches developed a severe case of the bends. Other treatments having failed, Alpha Flight took Roger to Scramble, who not only cured the bends, but crafted new legs for Roger as well. But the legs weren't perfect and started to degrade. Roger became more and more mentally unstable and used his Box armor to attack his teammate Sasquatch in belief that his girlfriend Aurora was cheating on him with Sasquatch. Madison, who had helped build and alter the Box robot over the years, was forced to use his powers to forcibly drive Roger out of the armor and in the process phased himself into it. Unwilling the just destroy the robot, but knowing he can't trust it in Roger's care anymore, Madison has made Box his own and decided to leave Alpha Flight while he figures out where to go from here.
Personality
Madison Jeffries is a rather quiet, sullen man. He's always been a bit gloomy and argumentative, a counterpoint to his little brother Lionel's bright, cheery, optimistic outlook. Lionel saw his Mutant abilities as a marvelous gift, Madison saw them as a curse making him a freak. Lionel had great dreams of the future, Madison always stuck to just stumbling through from one day to the next. But Madison loved his brother dearly and in many ways, he leached off of Lionel's positive attitude. When they were together, he could get to see the world through Lionel's rosy glasses rather than his own gloomy ones.
After Afghanistan, Madison was crushed. Losing his brother was like losing a part of himself. He was very defensive about his brother and protective. He felt like it was his duty to help his Brother to get better and remember all those dreams he once shared with Madison. But at the same time, he longed for that bond of companionship, the Brotherhood that he transferred towards Roger Boches. When he joined Department H, he feared what they might do to Lionel if they realized about the power he wielded, so he made sure it was a condition of his joining that his background not be looked into too closely simply to protect Lionel.
Being in Gamma Flight reminded him too much of the Army, too much of what he had tried to put behind him. He couldn't be a good little soldier. He respected James MacDonald, felt he was a good guy but knew he wasn't the one really calling the shots. He tried to get with the program, but found himself rebelling against it more and more. He would let little things blow up into big shouting matches or physical fights. He would get into a high pressure training situation and freeze up. He saw Roger excelling and moving on up to Beta Flight, but he just couldn't get himself to follow his example.
After he was given the boot, Madison was more torn than ever on what to do with his life. Planning for the future was Lionel's thing. Madison grew despondent and depressed. He actually contemplated killing himself, and was in the works of setting it up when he came with the idea of faking his own death. It became a cathartic thing, like he was destroying the person he had been, and being born again as a new person. He tried to be cool and laid back in things... tried to leave the nightmares and pain behind him with his new life. But he couldn't completely forget the life he had, or his Brother back up in Canada. All he could do was bottle up those pains and emotions, causing them to get unleashed all the more in his nightmares and when his defenses were down. He has a big heart and is very loyal to his friends, but it takes some times for him to open up his real inner self to someone and let them into his old life as well as his new. He tends to be rather vague and oblique when it comes to his past and gets resentful of anyone trying to push for details he's not ready to give up yet.
Madison Jeffries is a rather quiet, sullen man. He's always been a bit gloomy and argumentative, a counterpoint to his little brother Lionel's bright, cheery, optimistic outlook. Lionel saw his Mutant abilities as a marvelous gift, Madison saw them as a curse making him a freak. Lionel had great dreams of the future, Madison always stuck to just stumbling through from one day to the next. But Madison loved his brother dearly and in many ways, he leached off of Lionel's positive attitude. When they were together, he could get to see the world through Lionel's rosy glasses rather than his own gloomy ones.
After Afghanistan, Madison was crushed. Losing his brother was like losing a part of himself. He was very defensive about his brother and protective. He felt like it was his duty to help his Brother to get better and remember all those dreams he once shared with Madison. But at the same time, he longed for that bond of companionship, the Brotherhood that he transferred towards Roger Boches. When he joined Department H, he feared what they might do to Lionel if they realized about the power he wielded, so he made sure it was a condition of his joining that his background not be looked into too closely simply to protect Lionel.
Being in Gamma Flight reminded him too much of the Army, too much of what he had tried to put behind him. He couldn't be a good little soldier. He respected James MacDonald, felt he was a good guy but knew he wasn't the one really calling the shots. He tried to get with the program, but found himself rebelling against it more and more. He would let little things blow up into big shouting matches or physical fights. He would get into a high pressure training situation and freeze up. He saw Roger excelling and moving on up to Beta Flight, but he just couldn't get himself to follow his example.