Some
time had passed since the attack by Land Slide. The destroyed blocks were being
cleared away and cleaned up to be readied for new buildings. Though the
villains hadn’t shown themselves for a week, the heroes of Frontier have been
hard at work searching through the city and keeping a constant eye out for any
hints of the villains’ hideout. However the heroes aren’t the only ones who were
distressed about the current predicament.
The
citizens of the city of Hopling are not used to having this many super villains
running amok. In the past couple of months, they have seen the arrival of new,
powerful villains in the city, and it was the general feeling of fear that was
driving the political machines at the moment. The public outcry at the
Metalock’s jailbreak was fierce, and directed fully at the GMA. While the
diplomatic agents of the agency tried to stem the flow of anger and fear, it
only continued to grow with the destruction caused by Land Slide. The people wanted
someone to blame, and although that was a complicated issue, they knew yelling
at the GMA was inefficient. So they turned to blame someone else, and found the
members of Frontier to be easy targets.
Now
the heroes of Frontier had to use their secret routes out of the mansion due to
the crowd of protestors hanging around their building. Once loved by the city,
the heroes found themselves hated and blamed for the chaos. They either did not
stop the villains fast enough, or when they did it caused too much property
damage. While some saw this as foolishness, the majority jumped on the
bandwagon, slandering the few individuals who put their own lives on the line
to save the public. The GMA tried to help once more, but there was little they
could do now that the tidal wave of public opinion was in motion.
“Public
Demands Fix to Frontier!” Volt threw the newspaper on the table laughing. “This
wasn’t part of the plan, but damn is it a good consequence!”
Tommy
joined in his laughter. “The moment they throw them in jail, I am bringing the
whole building down on them!”
“They
won’t throw them in jail, Tommy. Don’t be ridiculous.” Richard’s cold voice
stopped the youth’s laughter. Richard looked over at the two younger men from
his work bench in the basement corner and lifted up his protective goggles.
“They are still the only major superheroes in the city. The public may be full
of idiots, but nobody is that foolish
to go through with the notion of imprisonment.” Richard paused, his eyes
narrowing as he glared at Tommy. “Plus I don’t think the rest of us would like
it very much if you had all the fun with killing Frontier.”
Tommy
glanced nervously around quick. “Yeah yeah, fine. As long as I get the psychic
broad I’ll be happy.”
“I
don’t think anyone will abject to that,” Volt replied with a grunt, “but
personally I don’t care who I kill. As long as they suffer while I’m doing it.
Damn heroes.”
As
the two men went back to talking, Richard returned to his work. His suit had
been in need of repair, but in this past week he had done more than just repair
it. With Jasmine’s shadow cloaking, the villains were able to steal anything
they needed, including spare parts and weapons for Richard’s suit. New
weaponry, force fields, defense systems; there was nothing Frontier could throw
at Richard in which he could not handle.
I don’t even need these buffoons
to take out Frontier anymore, Richard thought while he toiled. But they will be good fodder. Plus I’m no
fool; I understand the need for a healthy support system.
Meanwhile,
Jasmine was just getting out of the shower a few floors up. During the week,
tenants have…disappeared, including the land lord and apartment manager. These
eliminations have made it easier for the villains to move about the apartment
complex, taking rooms for themselves and enjoying the comforts of home while
evading the ever-watchful eye of Frontier. Jasmine had chosen a room far away
from the others. As she sat down on the bed and pulled up her legs to her
chest, she began thinking again what trouble she had gotten herself into this
time.
Jasmine
had never meant for this to happen. She remembers the fight with Matt, and how
she wanted them to rise up. But she was young, and stupid; she didn’t realize
what really had to be done. Humans could not be enslaved, but that did not mean
she had to live oppressed by them. She could run away, find an island and
create her own kingdom. If only she had been smarter all those years before! If
she could reach Matt, then maybe she can explain everything to him. But alas,
with Richard watching her every move, she was as much a prisoner here as she
was back in the Metalock. And she had no idea how much Matt had changed, if at
all, in the recent years.
A
tear ran down her cheek thinking of him. Suddenly, a knock at the door stirred
her from her thoughts, and she slowly approached after wrapping a towel around
her. She found Brian standing on the other side, looking up and down the hall
to make sure no one was watching.
“Can
we talk?” he asked quickly and quietly as soon as she opened the door.
“I
suppose,” she replied and retreated back within her room. While the others
tried talking to her when they met in the halls, Brian had made no sign of
communicating with the girl, and personally Jasmine had no desire to talk to
any of them. She closed the door to the bathroom and quickly dressed, putting
on a bright red summer dress. Brian had taken a seat in a chair opposite of the
bed, and Jasmine sat down ready to hear what he had to say. At first they sat
in silence, but Brian finally plucked up the courage to speak.
“Matt’s
yours if we get to him. I know you two have more between you than we ever did.
I was just…an apprentice to him. You were way more than that.”
Jasmine
looked at him, surprised by his honesty. “How do you know I meant so much?”
Brian
smiled and shook his head. “Because he never mentioned you. Not once in the
months we trained together. I heard bits of his family, but never a hint that
he knew a girl as beautiful and as powerful as you. And that’s how I know it
hurt him so much what happened to you, and how it still haunts him. So he’s
yours to take out if you get the chance.”
Jasmine
looked down, but could not hide her smile. It was a huge relief to hear Matt
still held some feelings for her, deep down inside his heart. She had no
intention of hurting Matt, but no one here could know that. Then she caught
something Brian said. “What do you mean if?”
Brian
sighed. “Come on Jasmine, we’re the bad guys. Do we ever win?”
“Then
why do you continue on?” she asked, puzzled by this layer of complexity Brian
was showing.
“I’m
not here cuz I wanna be, but Richard has a point. I want power above all else,
and I know the good guys won’t let me have it without a fight. Sooner or later
I’ll have to fight and kill them to keep my power, so I might as well do it
while I have allies instead of waiting until I am alone. Strength in numbers
and all that.”
Brian smiled, and Jasmine saw
the wickedness behind it. She suppressed a shudder and smiled back, knowing
that it wouldn’t be long before she could stop acting and be free once more.
Brian stood up and made to leave the room, but stopped before closing the door.
“Oh, and Richard says he’s done. It’s time.”
“Alex
could help us out. He has technology onboard the Eagle that might be able to
pinpoint and find these guys before they do something, instead of us sitting
here waiting.” Marian had her hands flat on the table while she stood up,
resting on the arms and giving the impression of towering over her fellow superheroes.
Steve shook his head in response to her statement, though.
“We
already have enough problems concerning the negativity in the public eye. I
don’t want to drag Alex into this as well.”
“Why
not leave it up to him?” Everyone looked at Matt, who up until now had been
silent in these meetings. “I mean, I could have left at any time. Not now,
since people finally started associating the shiny flying man with Frontier,
but I chose to stay and help you guys no matter what because you are helping me
out. And he is technically a member of the team, so maybe he’ll feel the same
and lend a hand.”
Steve
was about to elaborate on his reason when the siren went off in the mansion.
They all rushed to the command center, where Francis was at his post monitoring
the city. “It’s Sewage,” he said without looking away from the screen. No one
had to leave the room to understand that this was not exactly an attack, but a
message. Every network in Hopling had camera crews on the site and was
recording the message; written in decaying materials and liquid waste, it hung
in the sky over the center of the city. The message was short but clear, its
meaning grave to the members of Frontier.
It
simply read, “One Hour.”
Breaking
the silence, Tony cleared his throat. “So, how about that call to Jackson?”
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