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.

See more issues at Super Shorts! 

New Project: Super

I have started a new project called Super, a series of short stories depicting various characters. It's a showcase series, where characters can be introduced to the audiences to determine which ideas are good and deserving of their own series. Check it out here!

Hero of the Day

Victor was lying down on the grass, looking up at the sky. Curled next to him is his girlfriend, who has tears in her eyes and her arms wrapped around his body. The year is 2012, and it is only five minutes to midnight on New Years Eve. Even though it is late, the sky is lit up with bright lights from every house. Nobody fell asleep early tonight, as there will be enough sleep in the following years. Years ago the scientist predicted the world would end on the 21st of December, 2012. They were wrong. The world will end tonight.
Every attempt to stop the meteor had failed. Nothing could shift its course, and with no hope left, the government issued its last message: “Prepare for the end, it is all over.” That was this afternoon. Within 30 seconds, Victor’s phone was ringing. People began gathering around his apartment building, shouting and screaming his name. “Help us!” they cried. “Save us please!” With a broken heart he looked out from his window, but could do nothing else. At least not anymore; not after what they did to him.
Two years ago, the world looked upon what would be its first, and last, super-powered individual. With his abilities, which the origins are still unknown, he exposed himself to the public in order to help the people during the Second Great Depression. Victor, although at the time he was going by some ridiculous superhero name, could generate and manipulate electrical pulses, both visible and subatomic. He could pull lightning from the sky, or shake the very fabric of time and space. With his unlimited power, the possibilities were endless. Electric cars, free energy, technological advances, all were open to humans now that he had gone public. However, unlimited power comes with a horrible price, for however many people adore you, twice as many fear you.
The governments were skeptical of a being that could destroy a country in a matter of weeks. They spread their skepticism and fear into the media, which in turn passed it onto the very people Victor wanted to help. Religious leaders turned him into the anti-Christ, while government officials blamed him for the strange and destructive weather patterns. No matter how many people he saved, or what technology he helped create, the world he wanted only to save slowly turned against him.
After months of hate being fed into their very hearts and souls, the people of the world cried out for his blood. No more would they stand for this abomination to go around freely using his abilities, for any purpose. The governments demanded an immediate surrender. Not wanting to start a war he feared would destroy the planet, Victor surrendered willingly. At first the officials tried to just hide him away, and continue using his abilities for technological advances. But after only months of this, his fate was leaked to the press, and the public cried out for a greater punishment. They wanted his powers gone.
With mounting pressure from the public, the government had no choice. They devised the means to remove his powers by using the technology he gave them. Not aware of the government’s plans to de-power him, Victor was easily tricked, and betrayed by the very men he had grown to trust. The machine worked perfectly, and Victor was successfully de-powered, with the footage shown world-wide to satisfy the public’s thirst. Victor, who was shocked and still not sure what had happened, was allowed to return home and live out his life as a normal human being. All he wanted was to help. But all they wanted was another person to blame for their mistakes. That was six months ago.
Ten seconds until midnight, and the world looks up to the heavens to watch the ball drop. Victor and his girlfriend had fled to a nearby hilltop, the highest in the area, to watch the end in peace. As she lies there huddled in his arms, he grabs onto her and pulls her tightly against him. Tears begin to stream down their cheeks as they look up towards the sky. He looks at her, and together they whisper their final words. The end of the human race has come, and the only thing capable of stopping it was taken away out of fear and hatred. The people had been granted their savior, and had turned their heads in disgust. They laid the foundations for their very destruction, and built their own tombs with their ignorance and corruption.

Hero

“I guess we should begin with a little history lesson, just too clear things up. My father was a hero. And I’m not just saying that because I’m his son, and I look up to him. I mean he was a real hero. He saved lives. He defeated the bad guys, and he saved the day more times than he could count. But it wasn’t all just fame and fortune. In fact, no one in the general public even knows what he did for them. No one knows what he sacrificed. No one knows how many times he stopped people from dying. He always says its better this way. There’s no publicity and cameras. He can go about his life like a normal person now. Even if he still has his powers. He says he got everything out of life he could want so far. He has a family, the government pays for everything, and he has the satisfaction of knowing he helped change the world. If only I could have been more like him. If only I could have just been content with controlling my powers, and not so impatient. I only wanted to be like him. I only wanted to be a hero.”
“I have powers, but they are different than my father. We aren’t really sure what went wrong, since my sister’s powers seem more in line with his, but instead of fire, I use energy. You wouldn’t think it’s too big of a deal, since what’s the difference between a fireball and an energy blast, right? Well that would be the case, but I don’t create the energy, I absorb it. I take the energy from around me, pull it all in, and then I can use it. And there are so many technicalities. Too little energy, I can’t do anything. Too much energy and my cells will either burst or burn. We haven’t figured out which yet, and I’m ok with that. Either way, it takes time and concentration to absorb the energy. It’s as if nature knew giving me too much power right off the bat would be disastrous, so instead I have to earn it. Not like that changes anything about how I acted. In fact, none of this really matters, so I’ll just cut to the important part.”
“It was ten when my powers first manifested. I was 16 when it happened. That’s six years of training with them. You would think in six years I would have learned something from my father’s stories instead of just enjoying them and daydreaming about saving the world. But I didn’t and I made a terrible mistake. I thought I had a good handle on my powers. I thought I could do something other than just train with them. I thought I could be a hero, just like my father. But I was wrong. It happened in a city, and you can forget about asking which one, cuz there is no way I’m giving details. It was in a city, and I was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, just like in the comics I read. Looking back I am so embarrassed by how I acted, but I can’t change the past. It was on one particular rooftop, looking over a certain alley, that I heard the scream.”
“I will never forget the place. I will never forget the cold night air on my face, and the sounds of the city. The way my heart froze at that woman’s scream. I should have just left. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but everything would have been better off if I had just left that woman to her fate. I should have just walked away. But of course, that’s not what my father would have done. And that’s not how the superheroes from the comics and movies would have acted. They would have plunged headfirst into the alley, instinctively knew what was what, beat the bad guys, and saved that woman. That’s what would have happened in a movie. God I just wish this would have been a movie. That’s how I acted though, just like those fictional heroes. I brought a mask, cuz that’s what all the made up heroes wore. Not my father. He didn’t wear a mask, cuz he had nothing to hide. But on went my mask, and that’s where my life ended.”
“Headfirst into the fray I went. I can remember the scene perfectly. He had her up against the wall, about to help himself to her. The only light was coming from a streetlamp outside the alley. It was so dark; I couldn’t make out a face, or any details for that matter. If I could have, I might have seen the knife he had at her throat. I don’t know if that would have mattered to me at the moment. All I was concerned with was punishing him for hurting her. I’m not sure if I even said anything. I couldn’t make up my mind on a catch-phrase. Hell, I didn’t even have a costume. It was just my street clothes and a plain black face mask. Like the ones kids wear at Halloween. Yet there I was, jumping to the rescue of a woman I didn’t know, about to beat up a criminal, just like the comics. Too bad in the comics, the good guy always wins.”
“So without thinking, I ran straight into the assailant. ‘Without thinking’ could pretty much sum up the entire night, even though I spent months planning this. It’s amazing how much planning and decision making you can do, without putting a single thought into the whole thing. Anyway, I tackled the man, which knocked him off her and into a dumpster. He got back up and I, once again without thinking, used my powers and blasted him with energy. This was a horrible mistake, one of many, since he flew out of the alley into the city street. Even in this busy city, a man flying out of an alley attracts some attention. But I wasn’t concerned with him anymore. I had defeated the bad guy and saved the day. Turning around I said something like, “You’re safe now, ma’am” or something stupid like that. That’s when I saw what I really did. That’s when I saw she was dead.”
“Remember that knife I mentioned earlier? The one I didn’t take notice to? The one that was held to her throat? So close to her throat, in fact, that when I ran into the man, his hand slipped. Instead of the knife falling to the ground, as would have happened in every freaking movie and comic in the world, the knife slipped into her throat. It was such a clean cut; you wouldn’t even have known it was by accident. But this wasn’t by accident. This was a mistake made by me, because I was too impatient to just wait until I was ready for something like this. So there I was, standing over the body of this woman, who was dead because of me. True, she was about to be raped, and he could have very well killed her anyway, but it wasn’t his fault. He had the knife to her throat, but I moved his hand.”
“I freaked. I didn’t know what to do. I started to cry, and it was at this point that the crowd, drawn from the man flying form the alley because of me began to come into the alley. The cops arrived at this point, and I just ran. Such a hero-like maneuver. I ran like a scared little boy because that’s what I was. I had just caused a murder to take place. No. I just committed a murder. And instead of standing there and explaining myself, I ran away. A couple blocks away, I jumped into a dumpster. I’m not sure how long I was there, but it was the first of many nights were I cried myself to sleep. I cried cuz I killed that woman. I cried cuz I failed at being a hero. I can never be like my father now. Not after what happened that night. I knew right then and there I can never be a real hero.”
“When I woke up, I went back to the alley. Who knows why, but I needed to see what happened. I guess it was to make sure I didn’t dream it up. Maybe it was to punish me more. I don’t know why, but when I got there the place was taped off. The police told me that a woman was killed last night by a burglar while he was trying to rape her. So that was the story. No one even knew I was there. You would think that would have helped. But it didn’t, and it still doesn’t. You don’t know how much I just wanted to grab that cop and shout “I did it! I killed her!” But I just walked away. Just like I did the night before. I left and came home; something that woman will never get to do anymore. I never even got her name. I couldn’t find it on the internet. I searched for hours, but I couldn’t find it. As if it didn’t happen. But it did, and her blood will forever be on my hands. The next day I burned all my comics. I have never watched another superhero movie since without feeling ashamed. And I started training even harder with my abilities. Night and day, and I’m still training. I will never use them again until I have complete control. I will never allow myself to be foolish enough to think I can save a person’s life without there being consequences. I will never play hero again.”