Part of the Fifty States Initiative!

StormFront

Issue #2 written by D. Golightly

"Storm of the Century – Part Two"

MONDAY, 7:55am

The Alaskan winds that typically swept blankets of light frost around the landing pad found themselves cut back by an approaching helicopter. Not a typical aircraft, the chopper could present itself as whisper silent if so necessary. Its armaments were impressive enough to fend off a number of aggressors and its hull was sturdy enough to deflect whatever those same aggressors could dish out. A stark, drab coating of gray paint covered the aircraft entirely except for a blazing yellow insignia on the side, marking it as S.H.I.E.L.D. property.

A lone man stood waiting on the helipad for the approaching helicopter, his blue uniform standing out against the concrete background. His full facemask had been pulled back to reveal his chiseled features and dark hair. Joseph Cartelli, the appointed leader of the budding FSI team, watched the helicopter land. He nodded to the pilot before walking closer to the aircraft when he saw the side hatch open.

Three women of varying ages dropped out of the aircraft. Joe extended his right hand in greeting to the closest one, who had a long satchel strapped to her shoulder, as he said, "You're five minutes early. I like that. Welcome to the team. If you'll follow me we'll get all of you inside and debriefed."

"Hi!" the youngest woman, who didn't appear to be a day over eighteen, said with exuberance. "My name is—"

"Lilli," the first woman with the satchel said, cutting her off. "Not now. It's freezing out here and not all of us can let the wind phase through us."

The young woman blushed and raised the corner of her mouth, yielding to the older woman. The three ladies followed Joe across the helipad and into a three-story building that looked just as barren as the terrain. Once inside, Joe led them into a conference room where they dropped their duffel bags onto the table and sat down. The heated interior of the building comforted them, as S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft, while versatile, weren't very comfortable. Whitewashed walls and stainless steel décor greeted them as well as a dentist's waiting room.

The woman who had shaken Joe's hand regarded the conference room with narrow eyes, as if she were observing everything that crossed her path. "This place," she said. "It is very…functional."

"Tony Stark spent a lot of money putting the Initiative together," Joe replied. "I understand he dipped into his own funds to provide facilities to all of the FSI teams. Given the amount of haste practiced in placing us, I doubt a lot of thought was given to interior decorating."

Joe moved to the head of the table while the three women eased into their chairs. He flipped open a folder that he had dropped there earlier and palmed a remote control for thirty-six inch flatscreen television on the wall, turning it on. A schematic of the building they were in displayed immediately, zooming through the facility as Joe began to speak.

"First thing's first," he said. "My codename is Blue Shield and I'm the appointed leader of this FSI installation. I trust you were all debriefed on the basics of the operation upon being recruited. Our initial concern when—"

"I'm sorry," the one woman who had yet to speak blurted out as she leaned forward. Her skin was slightly darker than the others but not so much to distinguish her as being of African descent. "Are you serious?"

Joe looked confused. He was slightly irritated at the small outburst but he had to remind himself that these were not trained military personnel. Yet. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"You're telling me that S.H.I.E.L.D. put a guy named 'Blue Shield' in charge up here? Sweet Moses, if that doesn't take the cake… Stark is bigger on propaganda then I figured. I mean, I'm from Alaska. Was I even considered for the lead?"

Blue Shield picked up a page from inside the folder and looked it over before replying, "Cynthia Smalls. Codename: Bonfire. Native to Alaska. Complied with the Registration Act three weeks ago. Human organic mutate who displays pyrokinesis and combustion powers, the full range of which has yet to be discovered. Rushed through the Academy to fill a position here at FSI: 49. Your psyche exam suggests that no, you are not qualified to lead this team."

"Oh," she mumbled. "Well, when you put it like that…"

"Hi!" the bubbly young woman said beside Cynthia. She stuck out her hand to the Alaskan native, who just stared at it with a curious glance. "I'm Lilli. You can call me Ghost Girl. Are you really from Alaska? I'm Canadian, so that makes us neighbors! But don't worry. I won't get mad if you aren't a fan of hockey or something."

Joe cleared his throat, signaling Lilli to stop chattering. "I can see we'll have to skip over the typical introductions," he said. "Fair enough, since this isn't a typical team. Lilli's time with the defunct Alpha and Beta Flight squads gave her experience in the field that defied her age. Believe it or not she was one of the first to sign up when the Act was instituted. While not as polished as the rest of you, her enthusiasm and ability to react under pressure brought her to us, where her phasing powers will come in handy."

"Right," was all Cynthia could say as she looked over the energetic heroine beside her. The sarcasm in her voice seemed to go unnoticed by the youth, who was still smiling.

"Colleen Wing," Joe continued as he motioned to the final female in the room. "Trained to be a samurai by her grandfather in the mountain range of Hoshu. Most notably affiliated with the Heroes For Hire, most of whom have gone underground. Her skills with bladed weaponry and intimate knowledge of rebellious vigilantes put her as my second in command."

"Among other things," Colleen added. "I was personally appointed by Tony Stark himself for reasons I'm not at liberty to say."

"Ooo," Ghost Girl said as she glanced at Colleen. "The sword lady has secrets. So exciting!"

"We have another member joining us tomorrow afternoon," Blue Shield stated. "Before he arrives I'd like to get things situated with you three. That is, if we can get through the rest of this without any further interruptions."

As Blue Shield stared down Bonfire and Ghost Girl, the younger of the two blushed again and placed her hands under her legs. Joe nodded, hoping that what he had read in their profiles would live up to his expectations. First impressions could be damaging, but he was determined to make FSI: 49 work.

THURSDAY, 3:21pm

The somewhat frail form of Lilli floated between the chaos around her. A few flakes of snow blew through her intangible state, sending little tingling sensations as they passed. Her small cape fluttered from her shoulders as she looked to her left and right sides multiple times, focusing on the groups of teammates that needed her help.

"What's a Ghost Girl to do?" she exclaimed.

On one side she saw Blue Shield and the samurai Colleen Wing fend off hordes of what had been referred to as "Moloids." Colleen's silvery sword slashed back and forth, cutting down entire crops of the mutated underworld dwellers, while Blue Shield did his best to keep the creatures off her back by deflecting them with his force field. They had made a run at the Mole Man, who was perched atop a snow bank, tossing orders out to his minions.

On the other side she saw an older man garbed in drab, dented, purple armor pull himself out of a crater, which he had created when the Abomination had dive-bombed into him. The scruff around his chin made him look almost comical, and Ghost Girl might have laughed if the scene weren't so terrifying. Both the Abomination and the fiery Bonfire were laid out at Ahab's feet, fighting off the effects of the villain's harpoons, which were causing all of their pain receptors to fire at once.

Both sets of teammates needed her, and both sets needed her now. She wouldn't be able to move fast enough to help one after another, meaning whoever she went to first left the others at a disadvantage they might not live through.

So, Ghost Girl would do the only thing she could. She would split herself into two, right down the middle.

Lilli curled her fingers into balled fists and closed her eyes, shaking her arms from intense concentration. She had attempted the split before, and the exertion had nearly knocked her out. Of course, that had been within a controlled environment at the Department H headquarters in Canada. The group of scientists studying and training her there had theorized that she could distort reality itself, which was how she was able to phase through objects. They had labeled her as a Legacy Case, meaning her powers had deeper roots than she knew about and she had yet to learn the extent of them. Before the Initiative, Lilli had been working on discovering her potential.

She felt the rift in reality that comprised her cellular structure start to fold in on itself. Just before her entire body bent inward she extended her powers and pushed back out, causing a tear to form on her forehead that bled a brilliant golden light. The strain was almost too much for her, but her teammates needed her. She gave one final mental shove and felt herself separate into two beings.

Where one heroine had floated now hovered two, one the exact double of the other. Both looked slightly more transparent than the singular version, but otherwise they were flawless twins.

"Wow," they said in unison. "What a rush. Okay! You go take care of the pirate man and I'll help with the mole guys. No, you go take care of… Stop copying me!"

Both girls mimicked one another's movements perfectly while they each spoke the exact same words. The two transparent heroines scrunched up their faces in irritation before letting it dissolve into a broad smile.

"Oh, right! Duh. Okay, we can do this. Just concentrate, Lilli."

The pair both moved to the left, then to the right, blocking each other's path. After a moment of scrunching their faces again, the two separate Ghost Girls went to aid their teammates.

The first reached the army of Moloids and swooped in to the pair of heroes fending them off. Blue Shield had his force field extended as far as it would go, using the surrounding aura to pummel the creatures as he threw a right cross at three of the shorter Moloids. Colleen slashed off an arm with one quick stroke and then spun around, bringing her blade into the side of another enemy. Together they were holding their ground, but it wouldn't be long before they were overtaken.

"What can I do?" Ghost Girl asked as she floated over the brawl. One of the Moloids caught sight of her and leapt into the air, attempting to grapple her to the ground. Instead the creature passed harmlessly through her and fell on top of two other Moloids, bowling them over. "Ha! That will teach ya."

"Quite fooling around!" Blue Shield ordered. "Phase through the closest ones and give us some breathing room!"

Ghost Girl complied as she swooped in low to the ground, circling both Blue Shield and Colleen Wing. She extended her arms out as if portraying Peter Pan and tilted her head forward. As her intangible body passed through each Moloid, the creatures began to slump back and fall over, unconscious. The shock of having something share the same space as their own molecules was took much for them to handle. The legion behind the fallen ones looked startled as they began to back away from the heroes, unsure of whether or not to proceed.

"Impressive," Colleen muttered to the worn Ghost Girl as she touched down. "But we're not done yet."

"Whew!" Ghost Girl blurted out as she fanned herself with one hand. "I am. Partially phasing through that much monster really takes a lot out of me."

"That's okay," Blue Shield said as he quickly drew a bead on the Mole Man, who stood a football field's length away from them. The villain was flapping his arms wildly, apparently upset over how his minions were being treated. "You gave us a second to regroup. Good job. Now that you've thinned the herd we should be able to get to the ringleader."

Colleen rubbed the shoulder of her sword-bearing arm, massaging away the lactic acid that had built up within her muscles. She nodded in agreement before looking across the battlefield to check on how the others were fairing. When she caught sight of what was transpiring she did a quick double take, trading glances between Ghost Girl and the fight ensuing with the other members of their team.

"The cold must be getting to me," the samurai stated. "I'm seeing double."

"Oh. That's just a reality-bending duplicate of me. She'll help out the others while we kick our own butt. I mean, kick their butts, not our own. That would just be silly. But as long as we merge again in the next few minutes we shouldn't have to worry about a resonance cascade."

Colleen shot the young heroine a curious look. "And just what is a resonance cascade?"

"The Department H guys said it was bad. Like, crossing the streams bad. Whatever that means."

"We'll work it out later," Blue Shield said over his shoulder. "Priority one is taking down the Mole Man. Let's move, team!"

Colleen brandished her sword, preparing to slice through whatever else came between her and her adversary. She took one last look at the Abomination and Bonfire as well as the photocopy of Ghost Girl, before charging off after Blue Shield. Their leader was right. Much like the ways of the discipline she had mastered, her current predicament forced her to focus on the matter at hand and trust in fate to guide them to victory.

She just hoped that whatever experience the youngest of their number had acquired had also graced her with wisdom.

WEDNESDAY, 1:10pm

"I can fly, you know," Bonfire said. Her bright red uniform that the Academy had provided her with only days ago stuck out against the puke green of the Abomination's scaled skin. "You really don't have to throw me."

While the three ground floors of their base provided dormitories, a conference room, a stocked kitchen, office space, a gym, and a war room, the area to practice their skills collectively in took up an entire subbasement floor. Most of the room was covered in mats and in one corner sat a collection of lifeless automatons. The team had gathered at Blue Shield's order, preparing to go through its first group training session. Now that their entire roster had arrived and settled in, it was time to work out field tactics.

"Ah, but can you fly as far as I can throw you?" Emil Blonsky, the gamma-powered Abomination, asked. His ugly and putrid face smirked at the lithe woman that struggled slightly in his grip. "We can always see, da?"

Colleen eyed the Abomination carefully as she polished her sword. She hadn't yet spoken to the giant since his arrival the day before, and since his initial act upon meeting them was to insult them all, she doubted that the rest would be talking to him willingly either.

"Blonsky!" Blue Shield shouted as he crossed the large and open room to where they were waiting. "Put Cynthia down, now. Our first training session is not going to be our last, and I'll be damned if I let you off your leash long enough to injure a member of this team."

"Aye, aye, commander." The brute gently put Bonfire back on the ground and took a few steps back. If it weren't for the high ceilings he would have easily bumped his head with each step. "I was merely showing her a maneuver I had heard of called 'the fastball special'. I hear it is quite effective."

"Save the innocent tone," Blue Shield shot back at him. "Stark stuck me with you, and I have to deal with that. But don't think for one second that because you were granted a pardon for complying with the Supervillain Correctional Program that—"

"Yes, yes," the Abomination replied with a wave of his gargantuan hand. "I'm sure you have instructions to do whatever you deem necessary if I, how you say, get out of hand. Rest assured, commander, that my own military background will prove to you that I am quite capable of following orders. I'm also sure you were debriefed on the fact that I am a willing participant in that program, so I would advise you to restrain your own tone."

A distinct metallic sching! rang out, catching all of their attention. Colleen Wing slipped her sword, now returned to its scabbard, over her shoulder and into place. "Perhaps we can avoid some of this confrontation if we simply begin the exercise," Colleen offered. "Joseph? How will this work, exactly? Will the staff operate the equipment involved in the session or do the drones run themselves?"

"Actually," Blue Shield responded, "they're on auto. Everything here is. We don't have a support staff. It's just us up here."

"What?" Cynthia blurted out. "You mean the only company I'm going to get up here is you guys? Dude, that's going to get old real quick. I'll be itching for a bad guy to show up after a week…"

The normally bubbly Ghost Girl gently floated near the green giant, looking him up and down with her wide eyes. "Weren't you the archenemy of the Hulk?" she inquired. "Was he bigger than you? 'Cause you're pretty big, not that size matters…"

"From what I understand, little one, the ill-famed incredible Hulk has been removed from this planet, which is one of the reasons I have agreed to partake in this ridiculous exercise called the Initiative."

"Well, I'm not working with you," Bonfire spat out. Her slender arms were crossed over her chest and her posture had changed to suggest that her mind had been made up. "I just met you, and what do you do? Piss me off. Forget it. There's no way in hell I'll ever team up with you on anything, you got that?"

THURSDAY, 3:23pm

The brute strength provided to the Abomination by gamma exposure should have provided the endurance necessary to bare one of Ahab's strikes, but even he was forced down by the unbearable pain of his nerves all clenching at once. The cold snow under his bulky frame melted against his green skin as he convulsed, letting small grunts out every so often to express his pain.

Screaming in agony beside him was Bonfire, suffering from the same attack. Every few seconds she would unleash a burst of flame from her outstretched arms, an involuntary act brought about by the torment her body was undergoing. Her fiery hair had been doused from lack of concentration, although her reflexes tried to reignite it every time her powers hiccupped.

"Imbeciles, the both of ya," Ahab scolded from behind them. His dented purple armor still held together, although his hair had been singed from Bonfire's attacks. "I ought to scrap you both, but I'm a little pressed for time. The underground rodent can't keep all of you off my back forever. Of course, that doesn't mean I can't take a second to enjoy my work, now does it?"

Ahab raised his left leg, now a peg which had been mostly replaced by cybernetic components as was the rest of his body, and stabbed it between Bonfire's shoulder blades. The peg drove between the bones, expelling whatever air was left in her lungs and nearly knocking her out.

"I thought you might be a mutant," Ahab said as he looked over the squirming Bonfire, "but you be something else I think. Something different. A shame I don't have enough time to examine you a might closer. Don't worry, though. Before long I'm betting your minds will simply shut down from the pain, leaving you both brain dead."

"Not if I can help it!"

Ahab had turned to leave but upon hearing the new voice he paused, looking over his shoulder. He saw the second Ghost Girl, standing in the snow a few yards away with her hands propped on her hips in a heroic pose. Her cape flapped wildly in the wind behind her and she possessed a look of stern resignation, which amused the villain.

"Seeing fit to join your friends? As you wish, little girl."

The time-tossed mutant hunter formed a lance of energy in his right palm, mentally commanding it to elongate into one of his harpoons. He cocked his arm back and without a second thought he let fly the deadly spear, aiming directly for Ghost Girl's head. At first the villain smiled, sure that this minor irritation would only hold him back for a second, but when the harpoon passed through the young girl his smile turned into a sneer.

Ghost Girl took to the air and headed for her downed teammates. "Can't hit me even if you wanted to!" she called out as she reached for the two harpoons stuck in the lower backs of both the Abomination and Bonfire.

"Touch those harpoons and I won't have to, little girl. If you try and rip them out of your friends you'll be in for… What?!"

Ghost Girl ignored the purple-clad villain, gripping a harpoon in each hand and yanking them free with a sharp tug. The energy lances quickly dispersed in her faded hands once they had been pulled, much to the dismay of Ahab.

"That's not possible!" he exclaimed as he stared in awe.

"For someone who isn't in total sync with this reality," Bonfire said as she began to stand up uneasily, "I'd say it's entirely possible. Thanks, Lil."

"My pleasure!" the eager young heroine replied.

"Now." Bonfire flexed her fingers a few times before twin balls of fire ignited in her palms. Her pupils glazed over in a red haze as she felt her strength return to her, and with it, control over her powers. The strands of hair atop her head suddenly burst into a crackling bout of flame, reacting to her level of aggression. "Where were we?"

Before she could launch a burst of flame at Ahab, a green battering ram in the shape of the Abomination's arm slammed into the villain's chest and sent him flying across the tundra. Bonfire quickly extinguished the balls of fire in her hands and shot Blonsky an irritated look, saying, "Jerk."

"The feeling, I'm sure, is mutual," the towering goliath replied. "Suffice it to say I do not enjoy witty banter as much as the next person. I much prefer to end this fight. Now if you are done trying to talk him to death perhaps we can finish this?"

Bonfire let out a disgusted sigh. She could feel her blood beginning to boil, but she fought back the urge to bathe the aggravating ogre in streams of fire. They had a job to do and she had to set her priorities. There would always be time later to try and burn off the Abomination's scales.

"Jerk," she repeated as she took to the air after Ahab.

The Abomination let out a deep, resonating chuckle as he bounded off toward their foe. He looked back at Ghost Girl, noticing a worried look on her face, but decided that whatever was wrong she could handle it. Ahab would take precedence over the concern of a teenager.

Ghost Girl, however, was sure that something was seriously wrong. She held up a hand and saw it begin to glow, pulsating rhythmically and getting brighter with every second. "Oh no," she muttered. "I wonder if this is what a resonance cascade looks like?"

NEXT ISSUE: StormFront's first mission wraps up with a bang, but is it the good kind or the bad kind? Plus, we'll see just how insulting Blonsky was when he first arrived and Blue Shield gets a few interesting facts thrown his way!