Chapter 11: Agent Wristwatch

There were a few guards in black and gray outfits carrying guns and other weapons I probably couldn’t see. They stood in the corridors and hallways of the organization and nodded to Frostbite when she passed by them. It was then I realized how much pressure Frostbite was under. Being a leading figure in a secret organization and having to ask for help from Danny and myself felt like a tough thing for her to do. She didn’t exactly strike me as the type of person to ask for help, or anything for that matter.

The hallways were mostly white with blue trims near the floors and ceilings. Everything felt cool and clean and I couldn’t help but wonder what the janitorial staff looked like. We passed by someone who looked tired telling the guards that he’ll see them tomorrow. Afterward, we turned to a relatively empty room labeled “Recruitment” and when we looked inside, we saw a woman who looked a little peeved upon seeing Frostbite.

“Grace,” She avoided eye-contact with a scowl on her face.

“Sign these two up,” Frostbite hissed. “And make it quick, I really don’t have much time right now.”

The lady looked at Frostbite with the same level of coldness as Frostbite’s own powers before “signing us up.” She asked us for our signatures and our names before telling us we could leave. I swore I could hear a sigh after we went back out into the clean, white and blue hallway.

“Like I said before, boys,” Frostbite kept walking. “This place is an organization for superhero affairs.”

Daniel and I looked at each other. We knew this was going to be the start of a tour.

“This is the main hub,” She led us out into an open space with a few people walking around and talking to each other.

We were atop a staircase and the white and blue theme stayed consistent throughout the organization’s rooms. There were little cubicles everywhere and I could hear some machinery whirring alongside a person’s grunts. Frostbite decided we’d seen enough of the view and continued the tour.

“You can get almost anywhere in the organization from here,” She walked down the stairs.

Frostbite removed her mask as she went on about the applications for the hub and how it was actually her idea when the Bastion got redesigned and so on, I was mesmerized because of how girly she actually looked. She let her light blue hair fall on her shoulders and she let out a little breath before asking us if we were listening. Danny seemed to be distracted with something else: a little room at the corner of the hub called the “Lounge.”

Frostbite snapped her fingers, “Focus, we’ll get to the lounge eventually.”

Danny sighed and we continued on.

Frostbite showed us the cafeteria, the administrators posts, where the bathrooms were (we had to wait a while for Danny to come out of there), the lounge (they had to pry me away from the popcorn machine) and then the dorms.

“This is where you guys will stay if you need to stay the night,” She led us inside. “Usually we’d just keep you here regardless of who you are but that’s illegal and we’d rather not raise suspicion.”

“Are there others like us?” Danny voiced what we were both wondering.

“Well, there’s Naturite,” She scratched her head. “Though he’s more of just an alien than anything else.”

A few seconds passed and I opened my mouth to say something but then Frostbite followed up, “Ah, I forgot about Switchblade. She’s actually in the training room right now.”

Frostbite started walking towards the training room and when we passed one of the dorms again I saw Naturite sleeping somewhat peacefully. I was relieved knowing he was alright, at least.

Danny slowed down so I could catch up to him.

“I see the way you’re looking at Frostbite, dude,” He said with a level of concern I didn’t think he was capable of having.

“It’s not like that, Danny,” I huddled with him. “It’s like… I didn’t expect her to look so… girly? Feminine?”

The concerned look was replaced with confusion.

“Like dude, she's wearing lip gloss and stuff,” I tried to make him understand.

“And...?” He blinked at me.

“I was expecting her to have a scar or a half metal face or even a piercing, but there’s just a normal face,” I said.

“Uh-huh,” He started walking off. “Well at least it wasn’t…”

He was looking into the training room from the glass wall and eyes were focused on the girl drinking water inside. Her eyes lit up when she saw Frostbite and she almost spewed the water from her mouth.

“Grace!” She ran over to Frostbite and hugged her.

It seemed as if Switchblade’s power was superspeed. She was a little shorter than Danny and I but with superspeed that would mean she could be really hard to hit. Danny was still awestruck by her and I realized the tables had turned for the both of us.

“I see the way you’re looking at her,” I mocked him before heading inside.

“Shut up,” He snapped out of his trance and followed me in.

We watched as Grace held the girl, who looked up to her.

“I’m glad you’re back,” She said before burying her face into Grace’s stomach again.

“And I’ve got a couple friends for you,” Frostbite waved us to come closer.

Danny was obviously nervous and I wondered about what Vanessa would say if she saw Danny’s expressions right then.

Switchblade walked over to me first. She was about the height of my shoulder and had jet black hair that she kept pushing out of her way.

“Hey, I’m William,” I stuck my hand out to her. “You could call me Will though.”

“I’m Switchblade, but you can call me Kate,” She shook my hand.

She approached Daniel, who seemed to consciously snap himself out of whatever trance he was in.

“Daniel,” He said briefly as he stuck his hand out in the most robotic way I’d ever seen. “Daniel Shard.”

“Kate,” She mocked him with a warm smile. “Kate Force.”

Frostbite came back over to us with a man that looked like he was in his 30’s or so.

“Right, right. This is one of the founding members of the Bastion and also Kate’s grandfather,” She pointed at him with her thumb. “Agent Wristwatch.”

I took a better look at him. Most of him looked like a normal middle aged man with a fair share of midlife crises but his eyes spoke much more than I thought they would. They were weary eyes but they had a shocking, piercing feeling behind them. He had a walking cane but he wasn’t hunched over and to me it seemed like a decoration or maybe a gift. When he directed his attention toward me, I averted my eyes and swayed a little. The hairs on my arms were raising and I looked at him one more time, seeing a low blue aura emitting from his person. He wasn’t much taller than Frostbite, who was a head taller than us, but at that moment he looked like a skyscraper, looming over me.

“It’s a familiar feeling indeed,” He said as he turned from me to Daniel, who was still mesmerized by Kate. “What are your powers?”

Danny answered just as briefly as before, “Superhuman reflexes.”

I responded the same way, “I can teleport through shadows.”

He gave me another look before telling us he’d be training us physically, mentally and teaching us to unlock our true potential or something like that.