#Mister Mid

[corner-stories]

new threads

Pieter Cross. Michael Holt. Late-Nights. Super Suits. Cutting-Edge, Ultra-Thin Armor. 1389 words. (ao3.)

The contents of Mister Terrific’s workshop were as ever changing as the tourists visiting the Statue of Liberty.

Tinkering and toying with items was simply in Michael’s nature. He was a firm believer in the notion that a creator’s work was never truly done, and thus every invention and gadget he had made were versions away from their initial prototype. 

And for reference, his T-Spheres and T-Mask were currently in their twentieth and fourteenth iterations. 

Michael had spent the last few hours in his workshop meticulously tinkering with a uniform, one that didn’t belong to him yet was in dire need of an upgrade. In contrast to his usual jacket and mask, the suit on his workbench included a black cowl and a pair of goggles uniquely designed to allow a certain person to see under normal lighting. 

With a steady hand, Michael adjusted the high-density, impact-resistant thermoplastic sheeting on the torso of the suit, making sure that it was in the ideal position to protect the vital organs. Meanwhile, the actual wearer of the garment was testing out a previous version in the only way he could. 

It was times like these where Michael was thankful for the random load-bearing beam in his workshop. It allowed him to hang a pair of gymnastics rings from the ceiling, allowing his test subject to test the limits of his mobility and strength when donning the new threads. 

As Michael adjusted the kevlar by the collar of the suit, Pieter A. Cross was literally hanging from the ceiling. With a false grip secured around the wooden rings, Pieter effortlessly pulled himself into a muscle-up, then held himself in a support hold as he kept his legs straight and raised them upwards into a pike hang. Had he been half the gymnast he was in his youth, then perhaps he would have been brave enough to lower himself into an iron cross. 

When Michael glanced up, he couldn’t help but grin. “Showing off, are we?”

Pieter’s usually frowny face softened into something more neutral, which was pretty much a smile from someone as stoic and humorless as him. 

“I’m flattered,” he responded in a voice that was slightly warmer than his usual monotone.

The Doctor leaned forward, keeping his back and legs parallel to the floor as much as he could. He made sure to spread his legs apart, forming a straddle maltese and attempting to hold it for as long as he could. 

Pieter’s thirty-nine-year-old muscles and joints surprised him, as despite the wear and tear they faced on a daily basis they still managed to keep him stabilized above the floor. Even the chronic aches in his left elbow were being nice to him for once. 

Eventually, Pieter finished testing the mobility of the Doctor Mid-Nite Suit V5.5 by returning to a support hold, then slowly lowering himself back to the floor. 

Michael remained sitting at his workbench, but turned his head towards his friend. “So how does that one feel? Can you move your shoulders better?”

“A bit more,” answered Pieter. As he walked over, he moved his right arm in a circle, a movement that seemed to flow effortlessly with the new flexibility of the suit. “Still feels like wearing a mattress though.” 

“But a comfortable mattress?”

Pieter shrugged. “I suppose so.” 

As Michael put the finishing touches on the Doctor Mid-Nite Suit V5.6, Pieter looked over to an older version of the garment that had been placed on a mannequin. Curiously, he touched the cape, which was made of a material of Michael’s own creation. 

On top of creating a cutting-edge, ultra-thin clothing that could rival Level IV body armor, Michael had apparently created an exceedingly light fabric that could provide one all the stealth benefits of a cape, but without the weight or drag. He even rigged the cape to detach from the suit after a certain amount of pressure, which would be useful in the event of unwanted snags. 

Obviously, Pieter was quite thankful for all the effort his best friend was putting into his new suits. Making sure that the JSA’s on-site medic was protected and padded was a fairly smart move, afterall. 

But considering the fact Michael had been dressing him up like a Ken Doll into the early wee hours of the morning, it was fair to say that Mister Terrific’s enthusiasm for playing the role of tailor was a bit… excessive. 

“Okay, I got one more for you,” Michael soon said, garnering an exasperated sigh from Pieter. 

The allegations that neither Doctor Mid-Nite nor Mister Terrific actually slept weren’t allegations, they were hard truths. 

Pieter pushed up his goggles briefly to rub his tired eyes. Once he pulled them back on, he saw Michael standing from his workbench and holding up the latest version of the Mid-Nite suit. At this time of night, it was hard for Pieter to keep telling the differences between every iteration of the garment, but in his limited vision he could tell that the current suit was slightly darker than the rest. 

“I’m sure it’ll feel the same as the last,” Pieter muttered.

“Not quite — see, I made some alterations that should fix the chafing around the neck,” Michael explained, gesturing towards the torso of the suit. “Plus, I’ve eased up on the armor around the joints for extra mobility. I’m hoping that a ‘move more, get hit less’ philosophy will lead to ideal results.”

It was fortunate that Pieter felt close enough to Michael to never mask his true feeling, which meant that the additional exhale of despair he let out was not met negatively. 

It was also fortunate that Michael was quite good at reading people — Pieter in particular — and was able to acknowledge that ungodliness of designing super suits until three in the morning.

“This is the last one, I promise,” Michael assured. “Please?”

Pieter noticed the same sense of excitement in Michael’s eyes. Perhaps it had been far too long since Mister Terrific got a chance to toy and tinker. 

With that in mind, Pieter nodded his head and grabbed the suit from his best friend’s hand.

“Just for you, Michael,” the Doctor spoke, managing a very subdued half-smile. At this time of night, it was hard for him to muster anything more. 

Michael nodded along, and keeping up with his end of the deal he went back to his work bench and put away his tools. A clean workspace was a happy workspace, afterall.

While his best friend meticulously organized every tool into its designated toolbox, Pieter began the lengthy process of disassembling the new Mid-Nite suit. In contrast to the simple jacket and shirt of Mister Terrific’s threads, the state-of-the-art armor and padding of the garment was made out of several pieces that had to be removed in a very particular order. It seemed that ease of application was another kink that Michael needed to iron out. 

After removing the gauntlets and belt, Pieter undid the fastenings around the shoulder, which helped loosened the chest plate secured to his torso. After the several pieces of cutting-edge thermoplastic were removed, the Doctor was left with the final layer, which still consisted of a shirt and pants made of impact-resistant foam and slash-resistant kevlar.

Hopefully Michael got a kick out of the impressive hopping dance Pieter had to perform to get his legs out of the suit’s pants. 

Pieter was heaving by the time he put the suit pieces off of him, then placed them onto the table in the middle of the workshop. It was moments like this where he regretted the choice to don compression wear underneath his usual work clothes. It didn’t help that some versions of the suit made him truly understand the phrase “10lb ham in a 5lb can.” 

Pieter wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead as he walked to Michael’s workbench, where he grabbed the final version of Doctor Mid-Nite’s new suit. At least it felt slightly lighter than the last.

“On another note, I’m really hoping this one breathes better…” Pieter muttered.

Whether it be because it was so ungodly late, or because he was so wrapped up in everything-proofing the suit that he overlooked such a basic detail, Michael let out an awkward chuckle. 

“Oh yeah, that’s a good idea.” 

[dailydccomics]

Black History Month variant covers by Ryan Benjamin

[mikejbecker]

JSA

[why-i-love-comics]

Absolute Power #3 - "Last Stand" (2024)

written by Mark Waid art by Dan Mora & Alejandro Sanchez

[onlylonelylatino]

The Justice Society and the Justice League by George Pérez

[superheroes-or-whatever]

Justice Society of America (2023-) #6 art by Marco Santucci

[splooosh]

Society of Justice

Don Kramer - Keith Champagne

[dazzelmethat]

My second art fight! this time for @becdecorbin and his oc Marquis Snapdragon! He's having a chat with my oc, Renoir. Perhaps about hats. Though I feel like they'd fight almost immediately after, haha.

I chose to focus more on pose for this one. Marquis was challenging to draw from a bit above.

[wanderingmind867]

I had one last poll idea here. So here's me continuing with all of my comics polls:

[somewherefornow]

PIETER CROSS/DR. MID-NITE & MICHAEL HOLT/MR. TERRIFIC in JSA (199)

[chernobog13]

Infinity Inc. by Tom Grummett and Rich Seetoo.

[vertigoartgore]

80's Mike Zeck style black suit Spider-Man by Dakota Alexander.

[dailydccomics]

we're calling everybody in for this one Justice League Europe #47-48

[do-you-ship-this-comic-ship]

[liebelesbe]

Ah hah! The best friend and boyfriend? Also I can send images in asks? did not know this

[ID: Four pride icons of Michael Holt and Pieter Cross, Pieter is sitting while Michael is standing. The first background is the gay men pride flag, the second one is the 9-stripe Gilbert Baker flag. The last two are alternate version where both of them have empty speech bubbles above them. The image in the ask above is the same, except the background is some kind of room and the speech bubbles are filled. Pieter says "Probably?" and Michael says "We have no idea." End ID]

[mourningcandles]

it's important to remember that platonic relationships can be just as impactful as romantic relationships. this will help you take full advantage of all potential relationship drama in your writing.