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Madeline couldn’t help but beam as she walked around her college campus. It was like all her dreams were coming true at once. Here she was now at her first day of college — living on her own for the first time — but she could hardly pay attention to that knowing what else she had going on beyond it.

“What’s up with you?” asked one girl sitting next to Madeline who noticed how Madeline was grinning stupidly while waiting for a lecture to start.

“Nothing,” Madeline answered with a twinkle in her eye. “I’m just a mild-mannered college student.”

“You’re weird.”

Madeline couldn’t do anything but nod to that. She was weird — but in an awesome way. Because while by day she was a college student, by... well, later in the day (their office closed at six), she would train to be a superhero.

And as soon as Madeline’s initial day of classes was over, she took the subway to the Protector’s headquarters — her new headquarters. Finally, it was time for her to meet the other superheroes — her teammates. Her allies in her crusade for truth and justice. When she entered the Protector’s headquarters, she marched right up to the woman at the desk by the elevators.

“Hello, Deskwoman, it’s me: the yet-to-be-named superhero. I guess we should get to know each other.”

“Should we?”

Deskwoman pointed to the elevators. Madeline tried one more polite smile (which was ignored) and got into one of the elevators. This time, it took her all the way to the top of the tower. When it opened, she was in a spacious room with high glass ceilings. About her was training equipment and couches and a kitchen — this was the superhero hangout. And before her, there were all the superheroes she knew, all either training or lounging about. She thought she should walk up and introduce herself, but as she was trying to find the will to do so, a yellow blur shot toward her. The blur stopped, and in front of her was a senior man in a yellow suit with a yellow helmet.

“You must be the new girl,” he said, “I’m—”

“The Quickener!” Madeline squealed. “That fastest man alive!”

He grinned sheepishly. “Well, I was back in the 70s and 80s, but I’ve slowed a bit since then. Still faster than most bullets, though.”

“I’ve read all about your exploits,” Madeline said. “All that crime you fought back in the 70s — that sounded like a pretty gritty time. And then they say you ran circles around the Viet Cong... not enough to win the war, but wow.”

He frowned a bit. “Yeah, I don’t really talk much about that time.” He brought back his smile. “But why don’t I show you around and introduce you to the others.”

The Quickener led her on, walking at a more normal speed (though still a bit fast for a man in his 70s). He led her to a very tall woman pummeling a punching bag that looked to barely be holding together against her inhuman strength. She paused her punching to turn and face Madeline and the Quickener.

“This is the Amazonian,” the Quickener told Madeline.

Madeline smiled at her. “Hi, I’m Madeline, the new superhero. It’s great to meet a fellow woman crime fighter. I hope we can—”

“You are puny,” the Amazonian uttered and returned to hitting the punching bag.

Madeline nodded and said to the Amazonian’s back, “Criticism noted.”

“She’s not really a people person,” the Quickener whispered.

The Quickener led Madeline to the one shadowy corner of the room where lurked a man in a dark mask and cape.

“The Cowl!” Madeline exclaimed. “I’ve never really understood what your superpower is.”

“Resolve,” answered the Cowl in a gravelly voice like jagged rocks. “I know what evil is out there, so I train every single day so that I—”

“Do you have a cold?” Madeline asked.

“No.”

“Why do you talk like that?” Madeline thought for a moment. “Oh, I’m sorry; was your throat injured fighting bad guys?”

The Cowl seemed a little flustered. “No, it’s just... it’s just my superhero voice. It’s to help hide my identity.”

“Does that work?”

The Cowl hesitated for a moment. “No.”

“A lot of people seem to think you’re billionaire Max Stratton,” Madeline said.

The Cowl moved even further into the shadows. “Well... I can’t comment on that.”

Madeline smiled and waved goodbye to him as she walked off with the Quickener. When she was out of earshot, she asked him, “So he’s just a billionaire you let hang out here?”

“In fairness, being a billionaire is a sort of superpower,” the Quickener answered. “He does help with a lot of the funding for this place. And he has a bit of a sad story: He’s worked on being a superhero ever since a robber killed his parents.”

Madeline frowned. “Oh. Poor guy. Even being a billionaire doesn’t make up for losing your family.”

The Quickener shrugged. “Considers the family.”

The Quickener then led Madeline to a middle-aged woman in blue spandex (that wasn’t particularly flattering for her). She was sitting on a couch watching a soap opera, but she paused the show and stood up when Madeline approached.

“Sonicgirl!” Madeline exclaimed.

“New girl,” Sonicgirl answered with a neutral expression.

“I always wondered: Were you a big fan of Sonicman, and that’s why you took the name?”

Sonicgirl frowned. “I was first! He took the name from me!”

“Well, why do you call yourself Sonicgirl?” Madeline asked. “You have to be at least for—” Madeline noticed Sonicgirl scowling and realized she had made a big mistake but only had room for a little course correction. “...older than a teenager.”

“Nice to meet you, whoever you are,” Sonicgirl said, then sat back on the couch and resumed her show.

The Quickened led her a few steps away from Sonicgirl. “We don’t get new members very often, so it will probably take a little time to fit in. But I think we could use some new blood.”

Madeline grinned sheepishly and saw a man in a light-blue, aquatic-themed outfit. “I want to meet the new girl!” he said.

The Quickener sighed a little. “Madeline, this is Splash.”

“Ocean Commander,” Splash corrected him.

“No one is calling you that,” the Quickener said and turned back to Madeline. “Anyway, he can breathe underwater and swim fast and has fish friends... so he’s sort of like a superhero.”

“I command aquatic creatures!” Splash retorted. “I know some people think I’m a joke, but two-thirds of the world is covered in sea, and that is my domain.”

Madeline was careful this time not to offend any more of the Protectors. She took a very polite tone and said, “That’s great. You sound very important.”

The Quickener leaned over to her and whispered, “You don’t have to talk to him.”

Madeline heard a sound above her. A skylight above her was opening. Through it flew something at a tremendous speed that landed right in front of Madeline, startling her. It took Madeline a moment to process what had happened, but then she recognized that standing in front of her in his blue and orange suit was Fly-Over, the most powerful superhero of all time. He smiled at her warmly. “You must be the new hero, Madeline Larson.”

Madeline could hardly believe he knew her name. But then reality hit her again: She was a member of the Protectors, so he was her teammate. “Th... thanks, Fly-Over,” she stammered.

“Thank you for stepping up and joining our team.”

Madeline struggled for something else to say. “It’s so great to meet you in person. I saw how you once lifted a whole sinking oil tanker out of the sea.”

“Yeah, it broke apart,” Fly-Over admitted. “Those things aren’t meant to fly.”

“Stil, strength-wise, super impressive.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll do things just as impressive.”

“I doubt it. I’ll do what I can, but you are just powerful beyond belief.”

Fly-Over chuckled. “Yes, I know it seems like my impressive superpowers basically render the rest of the superheroes here pointless, but there’s one thing I can’t do by myself: teamwork. Now, I must try to stop a volcano from erupting.”

“Oh! Can I do anything to help?” Madeline asked, trying to hide her nervousness.

Fly-Over shook his head. “No, it’s far too dangerous. Everyone else just stay here.” Fly-Over then rocketed up in a blue blur, almost knocking Madeline over with the draft from his sudden movement.

“Even I can’t keep up with him,” the Quickener said, a little melancholy visible on his face.

“Is he really a space alien?” Madeline asked.

“Yes, but he’s a pretty normal guy,” the Quickener explained, “as some family raised him in the midwest. Well, he’s a bit right-wing. In fact, don’t bring up gun control around him unless you have time to listen to a long rant.”

Madeline looked around the room at the other superheroes, who seemed to be no longer paying attention to her. “So, who am I training with?”

“Well, none of us here,” the Quickener said and then checked his watch. “Actually, yeah it’s about time. There is a special group waiting for you.” He led Madeline to the elevators and rode down a few floors with her. When the elevator stopped, they got out, and he led her to a room where once again, were all the men and women in suits she had met before. “Good luck,” the Quickener told Madeline before speeding off.

NEXT>

Frank Talk

Origin Story: Part 3