Stan found an alien artifact, which bonded with him and identified itself as "Argonoid".  Argonoid spoke to him, and changed him -- boosting his intelligence and agility, gave him amazing powers over metals.  Following Argonoid's directions and his own creative designs, he built an amazing powered armor suit.

Mercury Man was born.

MM is faster and smarter than 95% of people.  He also has amazing Magnetism powers.

When he dons his red Mercury Man power-suit, he can fly, venture out into space or underwater, and is much stronger.  Additionaly, Argonoid expands his senses to include radar, sonar, radio, and more.