Frontier #20 - Broadening the Field pt. 2

                West City gleamed in the afternoon sunlight, the bustling sounds of a living city heard through the glass windows of the skyscraper in which Steve was waiting. Kenneth Bridge, the director of the GMA, had not been very specific with his request. He merely wanted to see Steve’s reaction to his proposal. Steve had never thought about it before, but it seemed so reasonable that he agreed, as long as he was able to review the chosen candidates. Which only made sense; Steve has been the leader of Frontier for over twenty years, so he’s the perfect person to determine who should be on the roster for the Western Frontier.

                Steve chuckled to himself at the name. Ken suggested it, and the simplicity of it was welcoming. A branch of Frontier on the west coast that acted independently, but was there in case anything should be needed from the Eastern team. That way, if anyone should go on vacation again, there would be no need to worry about Frontier being short-staffed. They could pull in members from the west, or vice versa, filling in the gaps. Ken was also a strong supporter of using the team as a training ground to raise good, skilled agents. Steve didn’t object; a few old Frontier members had gone on to become agents for the GMA in the past. In fact, there was little to no abjection to a west coast superhero team. There were none out there officially, despite the sheer number of licensed superheroes.

                Even as Steve looked out the window, he saw no less than five metahumans fly through the air. I’ve never seen so many metahumans out in the open, he thought as one flew close enough for him to see the brightly colored costume she wore.

Just then the door opened and the two agents who were going to be briefing Steve walked in. One was a woman, short but full-bodied with curves in all the right places and dressing as if she didn’t care who saw. Her blonde hair was obviously out of a bottle, and right now it was pulled into a tight bun. Steve saw she was trying to look professional, but it just came off wrong, for her. As for the other agent, he had short brown hair, glasses, and actually looked like a clean, by-the-book agent. Between the two, no papers or brief cases were carried, and Steve wondered where the profiles and reports were that they were supposed to be going over.

“Mr. Bennett,” the man said, shaking Steve’s hand, “it truly is an honor to meet you. My name is Dylan Holland, codename Database, and this is my partner Lin Valentine, aka Scramble.”

Steve shook hands with Lin next, “It’s nice to meet you two. I won’t lie; it has been awhile since I’ve been on this side of the country. It’s different, to say the least.”

“The differences are more than skin deep, Mr. Bennett,” Lin replied as she sat down in one of the chairs surrounding a long table. The others sat down, Dylan at the head of the table, and Steve across from Lin.

“Please, call me Steve. And perhaps I should know about them, since there will be a team out here now.”

“Of course, but it’ll take more time than we have today. For now, let’s go over some basics.” Dylan folded his hands and closed his eyes briefly, and then began again. “We’ve gone through the superhero registry records for West City and the surrounding areas, and have chosen six candidates that we feel are the best options for a superhero team. I’ll go over them briefly, and you can ask questions and give opinions.”

“Sounds great,” Steve replied, “but where are the papers?”

Lin laughed as Dylan explained. “I don’t require any papers, Steve. My powers allow me to remember any information I come across and to recall it whenever I need to. I’m very much like a living computer.”

“Wow,” Steve said amazed, “that must be very useful. And there are no drawbacks?”

“Only that people think he’s cheating at everything,” Lin replied with a grin as Dylan smiled.

“Ok first up on the list is a licensed superhero that, totally against Lin’s decision, I’ve included. Despite what she thinks, I know he would be an asset to the team, in addition to the team being a good influence on him. He goes by the codename Clawman,” At the mention of that name, Lin groaned, but Dylan continued on, “He has an oversized lobster claw on his right hand, nearly impenetrable skin, and a reckless attitude that makes him pretty damn unbeatable. True, that same attitude makes him a walking disaster for public safety, but I feel with a team behind him, Clawman can mature a bit and become a top-notch hero.”

Steve nodded, “I have someone like that on my team already, who’s surprising me by his growth in maturity. I’ll take this Clawman, and hopefully he’ll whip into shape like you say. Who’s next?”

“Next up we have a young man named Brian Smith. He likes the nickname Smitty, but his official codename is Heater. He came to our attention about a year ago when he started burning things down accidentally. We’ve been training him ever since, and he’s got a good grip on his powers now, which is the generation of heat. He heats things up, they combust, and things burn. Plus he’s fireproof, which helps. He’s a bright young kid with a lot of heart who wants to make it big one day, and putting him on a good team would help that process along, and get him the license he deserves to do good.”

Steve nodded, a smile on his face. The first two sounded great, so he waved Dylan on. “Kate Snyder, aka Nightcat, is a licensed superhero who has superhuman agility and reflexes, and is a highly skilled combatant. She’s already proven herself many times over against more powerful foes, so it’s a no brainer to include her.”

“Next is Rock Davidson, codename Brick. Another licensed superhero that’s put in his time and earned his recognition, he has the amazing ability to turn his skin into an impenetrable rock form, granting him invulnerability and super strength. He’s an excellent fighter, and is looking forward to being on the team. He is also a potential leader for this team, given his psyche evaluations.”

“The following two are both metahumans that have put in to become licensed, but due to the lack of offensive capabilities of their powers, have not gotten the license yet. One is a man who goes by Dingo. He’s a descendant of Australian aborigines, and has the power to cloud people’s mind and make them see or think things different from what they are. Very useful, but not so much for solo superhero work. He’d be a valuable asset to a team, though.”

“Finally we have Kristen Bower, codename Poof. She can become invisible, which is useful, but even more useful is her ability to make other objects invisible as well. Once again, not a lot of offense, but invaluable on a team where other heroes can do the brunt of the fighting. Both pass every test as far as psychological and emotional stability; they just need a team to get their license.”

Steve sat quietly for a few minutes, turning the candidates over in his mind. “So what do you think?” Lin asked after the silence became unbearable for her. “If it helps, we’ll be with the team every step of the way, acting as liaisons to the GMA for this branch.”

“Oh, that’s reassuring to know. But I think your selections are absolutely perfect. The only concern I have is the lack of powerful metahumans.” At the agents’ puzzled look, Steve went on. “The enemies we face in Hopling are, or at least were before these past few months, low-powered metahumans or human criminals. Only every once in awhile did we get the super villain attacking the city. But here, it seems something like that happens every week. Will a team like this be able to handle such threats on a weekly basis?”

“I think so,” Lin said before Dylan could, “Most of these metas are already licensed, and know what they are getting into. Hell, Nightcat herself took down a few super villains before. It’s normal for them. Besides, most of these metahumans volunteered to be on the team, with the exception of Nightcat and Clawman; those were asked personally and agreed. They all want to be a part of this thing.”

“Hmm, well if that is the case, then I see no problems. I give my blessings for this team to be created, if it means anything.”

“Of course it does,” Dylan said, standing up to shake Steve’s hand. “You created Frontier and built it from nothing. Starting a west coast branch wouldn’t be right without your consent. Frontier is your legacy, Steve.”

As Steve settled in for the flight home, he thought deeply about Dylan’s remark. The creation of Frontier is his legacy, his own personal contribution to making this world a safer place. But seeing the ideas through, and putting the effort in to keeping the team alive and actually fighting off the evil in the world, that was the legacy of each member who had ever been accepted into the ranks of Frontier. And he knew one day he would have to hang up his costume and hand over the reins to someone else. But it wasn’t a sad thought; instead Steve considered how much Marian and Tony had grown, and all the young metahumans that are thriving in the world today, and smiled. He would make sure the world is a safe place as long as he could, and after that? Well, Steve knew he didn’t have to worry. With the new generation of superheroes today, the world was in good hands.