Cerebra's Files
Alchemy
Real Name: Thomas JonesAffiliation: None
Relatives: Mother (unnamed), Ellie (sister)
Codename Etymology: Pronounced ăl'kə-mē [from Arabic al-kīmiyā’ : al-, "the" + kīmiyā’, "chemistry"]; A medieval attempt to transform base metals into gold.
Powers & History: A British student, Tom can transmute anything he touches into any element of his choosing. Originally, he unconsciously made gold, which attracted the attention of Troll Associates, Inc. an international group of trolls bent on returning the magical creatures to their place of dominance. The trolls captured Tom and planned to use him to make enough gold to make everyone rich. This would destabilize the world economy, because no one would want to work, and civilization would be destroyed, causing people to return to a less technologically-oriented state in which they would have to serve the trolls. Tom's mother called the original X-Factor, who were captured during a rescue attempt. However, Tom himself rebelled against the trolls, and turned two of them into a type of fool's gold. X-Factor offered Tom the opportunity to hone his mutant powers, but Tom declined in order to pursue his academic studies. Time passed, and Tom's mother was captured by the trolls. This time, Tom called the X-Men , but Excalibur got to the trolls first while they were chasing after the crimelord Vixen. Tom thought they would mess up his chance to save his mom, so he turned Captain Britain into gold, and got Meggan shortly thereafter. The X-Men arrived and the two teams converged on the trolls' lair. Unfortunately, Tom had turned the door into plastique, which exploded when Gambit threw a charged card at it. The mutants were captured, but Nightcrawler convinced the trolls that he supported their cause and was set free. The trolls then attacked Cerise and Feron who had been working on freeing Meggan, but Nightcrawler took the point and teleported Feron to the X-Men so he could break their mystical bonds. While Tom went to free his mother, Kurt challenged the trolls' leader to single combat. He won, but a brawl ensued, during which Thomas turned most of the evil trolls to gold. Following the trolls' defeat, Tom restored CB and Meggan's skin to its natural composition, which he learned how to do in Advanced Chemistry.
337