Frontier #1

“Supercharged”, pt.1

                The doors to the office where thrown open. Steve and Natalie both looked up from their desks, but neither jumped in surprise. Marian stormed into the office, just having arrived back from out on a call. Her naturally tanned-colored skin was flushed and red while her fists were clenched into two tight balls that could do serious damage if she was angry enough.

                And right now, she was pissed.

                “I can’t fucking stand him anymore!” She screamed, waving her arms in the air to accentuate her rage. Natalie sighed quietly while Steve cleared his throat. Marian wasn’t his young, temperamental teenage daughter anymore, but Tony knew exactly what buttons to push.

                “Tell me what happened, sweetie,” Steve spoke in his usual calm voice, knowing how to diffuse Marian’s anger after twenty years of practice. He stood up and walked around to the front of his desk, pushing a pile of papers aside with his large hands and sitting on the edge. He patted the cleared spot next to him, motioning for her to sit down and relax. Instead Marian started pacing the room, her arms flailing as she rambled on about Tony and the last mission.

                “He’s an ass! We got the call, and I turn around and he’s gone! I bust my ass to get to the scene, and by the time I get there he’s got all five criminals hanging from the lamp-posts by their underwear like this is a damn joke! Next thing I know, he’s gone again, and when I finally get back after dealing with all the interviews and bullshit I find he’s been back here on the couch drinking beer the whole time! He treats this shit like a video game and does whatever the hell he wants, cuz he knows I have no choice but to clean up his shit! I’m tired of putting up with this!”

                Marian took a moment to breath, and Natalie grabbed the opening. “Marian honey, you know he’s just trying to impress you, right?”

                Marian shot Natalie a stare that could bore through a brick wall. Both Natalie and Steve were aware of the complicated relationship between Marian and Tony. Before Marian could say anything to Natalie, Steve cut in.

                “Marian, look, Tony’s an ass. That’s clear as day to anyone who has spent more than five minutes with him. But his heart’s in the right place. He wants to do good in this world, he just kinda sucks at it. That’s why he’s here; not just to help us, but for us to help him.”

                Marian stopped pacing and stared at the ground. Her father had a way with calming her down. She was still angry at Tony, but she knew that even if she couldn’t see the wisdom in Steve’s words at the moment, it was there. “I just hope that one day he gets his ass-kicked and I have to save him. That’ll knock his ego down quite a bit.”

                Steve shook his head. “And I hope on that day you’ll be the bigger person, see just how much he really needs us, and help him without throwing it in his face.”

                Marian laughed as the tension from her anger loosened, “That’s not gonna happen.” She walked out of the room, but before she was out of sight Steve called to her.

“Don’t forget to turn in your report from today!” He flashed Natalie a smile as they heard Marian curse and storm off to her own room.

“She’s getting there, slowly but surely,” Natalie said as she got back to work. “She has your genes, after all.”

Steve laughed as he too returned to his chair. “I know. That’s why I worry sometimes.”

Tony gave Marian a puzzled look as she stormed past the recreation room, cursing under her breath. He shook his head as he went back to watching TV. He flung his head back to finish his beer, crushing the can afterwards and tossing it on the coffee table he was currently using as a foot rest.

                “Yo Glider, can I get another beer?”

                Francis “Glider” Toomes was the team’s butler and organizer. He was in charge of keeping the household in tidy order. A metahuman himself, Francis was originally denied individual registration but was granted a superhero license when he joined the very first line-up of Frontier over fifteen years ago. Unfortunately, after the first few missions he called it quits, citing that, “having a hollow bone structure is wonderful for birds, but not for humans in the line of fire, even those of us in technologically advanced wing suits.” Ever the good sport, he accepted the job Steve offered him as assistant to Frontier, and has been keeping the three-storied house in tip-top shape ever since.

                Francis walked over with a cold beer and handed it to Tony. Now in his fifties, Francis has seen his fair share of talent go through the ranks of Frontier. Often aiding in the decision process of new recruits, Francis was weary of bringing Tony onto the team. However the young man, who’s codename is Bullet, has proven to be just that: fast, destructive, but damn useful if pointed in the right direction.

                “I don’t get it, Glider. One day she’s all over me, the next she can’t look at me without punching a hole in the wall. What’s her deal?”

                Francis shook his head and sighed. Tony was useful in the field, but in everyday life he was clueless. “I believe she is confused by her feelings for you, Mr. Wilson. Might I suggest having a conversation with her, and perhaps listening to her side?”

                Tony finished up the beer Francis had just given him and belched. “Pshh, no matter what I say I’ll be wrong. Women, I’ll tell ya.”

With that, Tony got up and raced out of the room to the gym. Francis just shook his head again. “Kids these days. That boy’s going to lose her, and soon, I hope.”

                The buzzer sounded throughout the house, and the system of red lights turned on in all the rooms. Tony slammed down the weights and raced to the control room. Always the first one there, he saw the location of the robbery, scribbled a note, and zoomed out again.

                “Just another lame robbery,” he muttered as he sped away from the house. “I’ll take care it and be back before Mare even gets on her bike.”

                Tony laughed as he ran through the traffic without anyone so much as seeing a blur of color and a gust of wind.

                Marian arrived in the room after Steve. She had been in the shower when the call came in, and her nice relaxation spell had been broken, leaving her as bitter as before.

                “Tony’s already on it,” Steve said without turning around, “but that was two minutes ago. With his speed everything should be taken care of by now. I want you to head down there and see what’s holding him up.”

                Steve looked at Marian out of the corner of his eye. She was in her uniform; a black suit resembling a diver’s wetsuit underneath pants and a long-sleeved shirt, both made of Kevlar. She was busy strapping on her boots and snapping her gloves on when she looked up at Steve. He smiled, a huge sense of pride filling his heart at the sight of his daughter. She raised an eyebrow in question, and he coughed.

                “You want me to go with?”

                Marian smiled. “No thanks dad, I got this.” In thirty seconds she was on her motorcycle and speeding towards the robbery. Steve watched her drive away, nodding his head in agreement.

                The front of the bank was blown in, the streets crowded with debris. A few people still ran about, but it looked as if the police had already been defeated. Their cars were flipped and the conscious officers were helping those who had fallen in the quick skirmish. There were no signs of Tony anywhere, and cautiously Marian went inside the building. She had been trained for this. She was a superhero, licensed and registered by the government to defeat the bad guys and maintain peace.

As she stepped into the destroyed bank lobby, she saw the robber. He was twice her size, a hulking human being, whose body was crackling with electrical currents. His plain yellow t-shirt and black pants showed signs of battle, and he had his back turned towards her, holding something in his hands. Marian edged closer, but her foot crunched broken glass on the ground. The criminal looked at her, his hard face cracking into a smile. As he turned around, Marian’s heart jumped into her chest, and the anger she had built up dissipated. In his hands he held the unconscious body of the human bullet, Tony.

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