Frontier #7 - Power to the People pt. 2

                The Metalock is a vast prison complex located two hours from Hopling that houses the world’s metahuman villains. Located within the steel and concrete walls were those who could not be controlled, who could not be reasoned with, and some, besides for a lucky break, could not be stopped. The majority of the cells were found underground, using the very earth as additional security. There were hundreds of guards at any given time, both human and metahuman, and many GMA agents were permanently staffed there. A death sentence in the US is a rarity, despite many of these villains rightfully deserving it. So it is in the Metalock they sit, waiting for a chance at freedom and revenge.

                This is the second time in a month that Steve has visited the complex. The first time was when he helped escort Volt here, and it left a bitter taste in his mouth when he heard the screams and curses from the low-leveled metas that are housed in barred cells. Now he found himself here once more, this time to ask some questions from the very criminal his wife helped put here.

                Basher had been moved into the interrogation room before Steve even arrived, and was growing impatient. Not that he had anywhere to go, but he felt that he should at least know who was coming to talk to him. When Steve opened the door, Basher’s face lit up.

                “Ooooh man! I had no idea I’d be meeting you today!” Basher went to stand up, but the guards next to him pushed him back into this seat. Steve took notice that he looked much weaker than Natalie had described. His head was also a little…soft looking.

                “I heard you had the pleasure of meeting Teleka and Marathon a few days ago,” Steve said in a low voice. There was no need to shout, since the room was silent and soundproof. He nodded his head at the guards, motioning for them to be dismissed. Steve could handle himself if things got out of hand.

                “Ha! I gave them a good bashing!” He started getting excited, shifting in his seat a bit.

                Steve’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, though I’m not here for small talk. I want to know about the vial you were carrying around.”

                Basher suddenly got quiet and sat very still. “What vial?”

                “You’re very bad at playing dumb. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

                Basher’s gazed went down to the table, but he said nothing.

                “Fine,” Steve took a seat across from Basher. He reached into his pocket, designed especially for his large hands, and pulled out the tiny vial. The contents had been replaced with colored water, but Basher would not know that. Upon seeing the vial, Basher started shaking, his eyes now fixed on the liquid.

                “Seems this is pretty important to you, huh? Why not tell me what it is?”

                Basher shook his head, but could not take his eyes from the vial.

                Steve sighed, drumming his fingers on the table. “Ok, how about this. I’ll tell you everything I know, and you fill in the blanks. I know this is some sort of drug. I also know, looking over your blood work, that you are in fact not a metahuman.”

                Basher stopped shaking, and looked up at Steve. “I am a meta,” he said quietly.

                “No, you are not. Which leads me to the conclusion that this is an enhancement drug, designed to give regular humans superhuman abilities.”

                “I am a meta!” Basher shouted, standing up and trying to lunge over the table at the vial and Steve. Calmly but quickly Steve grabbed the vial with one hand and Basher’s head with the other, slamming the weakened criminal on the table. Basher struggled to get away, but could do nothing against Steve’s mighty strength.

                “I can also now see that without this drug, you start to lose your power, until you are nothing more than a mutated human being.” Basher stopped struggling, and Steve thought he heard low whimpers from under his hand. “About the only thing I’m missing, Mr. Basher, is where you got a hold of something like this. Because I can imagine this little vial was not cheap.”

                Steve lifted his hand off Basher, who slid back into his seat, subdued by Steve’s power. He was quiet for a moment, and then replied, “If I tell you, he won’t let me have anymore.”

                “A free sample, huh? Well that is very interesting. Thank you for your cooperation, but I think getting your next fix is the least of your worries here.” Steve walked out of the room as the guards reentered to take Basher back to his cell.

                “Great, now it’s gonna rain.”

                Tony was standing on the corner of a busy intersection, watching the cars and people go by with unattached interest. He didn’t want to be out at all tonight; his favorite television show was playing a special tonight, and yet here he was, outside while drops of rain start to fall, on patrol. The cold weather caused a slight dull pain in his leg, signaling he still wasn’t quite a hundred percent healed.

                “No sense in running around,” he muttered as he walked down the street, pulling the collar of his coat up to try to stay dry in the increasing rain. They were supposed to stay incognito while on patrol, but a few people smiled and recognized him as he passed. Can’t help it I’m so damn sexy, he thought with a smile. Marian was looking pretty good today too…

                His thoughts trailed off to his feelings about Marian. He knew he liked her, but he just couldn’t imagine seeing himself tied down to one girl. Not that he got out much as it was, but when he did he loved to party. Yet no matter how hard he partied or how many girls he met, Tony always found himself drawn back to Marian. Her dark, short-cut curly hair, tanned skin, and toned but full body would drive him crazy some nights, and she wasn’t just some dumb attractive girl. Marian was going places, and there were times when he wanted nothing more to be with her when that happened. But then they would have an argument, or she would get mad at him over who-knows-what, and he would lose those feelings, for a time.

                Suddenly a scream rocked him out of his thoughts. A car was overturned, and a group of metas were causing chaos in the street he was on. “Thank you!” Tony yelled as he ran into action.

                Time always seemed to slow down for Tony once he started running. He felt the individual rain drops hit him, and the sounds of the city and people grew muffled and drawn out. Reaching the first meta, Tony put his hand on his chest and pushed, sending the meta off in a slow throw down the street. The second meta was tripped, while a third was just plain run over. Tony loved his abilities, probably more than anyone else on the team. He would be absolutely lost without them since he took so much joy and pride from using them. It was unlike any other experience for him.

                Four, five, six, Tony hadn’t counted how many targets he had, but he kept knocking them down one at a time. Finally he stopped and let those he hit finish their courses. The three left standing looked around in pure surprise, not knowing what just happened. One instant they were causing chaos, and the next over half their group was down.

                You were just hit by Bullet, Tony thought as he plowed through the rest. In another moment he had them all grouped together for the police once they arrived. “Hmm, wait a minute. Wasn’t there one more of you?”

                Tony looked around and caught a blur of something moving around the corner. He chased after it, catching the speedster easily and knocking him into a parked car.

                “I’m the fastest man alive, dipshit!’ He yelled at the unconscious meta. “How did you think you could outrun-”, Tony stopped talking when he saw the broken vials that had fallen out of the rioter’s pockets. “Well well, what do we have here?” he knelt and picked one up, turning it over in his hand. “Steve and Nat are going to wanna see these things for sure.”