National Heroes
World: Marvel/ X-Men
Time: Before Fall of Mutants
Characters: Freedom Force
Prologue
A large group of people made up of the police, journalists and ordinary gawkers gathered in front of the well known, expensive restaurant in New York City. The entry to the building was crammed with police vans, including an armoured vehicle of the anti-terrorist unit. All sounds of the city were deafened by loud conversations, howling of alarms of ambulances and police cars and the whirr of the helicopter soaring above the city. The reporters form TV stations and radio spread one announcement for the world: the city had been attacked by mutants terrorists once again. Without any clarification of the cause, or any information about the demand criminals had for authorities, only one word was handed over: the life has shown once again that mutants were danger for the ordinary citizens and it was high time somebody decided how to solve this problem once and for all. This time the unknown man barged to one of the most expensive restaurants and using only strength of his mind he enslaved and imprisoned all guests and employees. He wanted the government to hear him out and stop working on the mutant registration act and revealed the information about the Widewake project to the public opinion. One of the leaders of the anti-terrorist squad arrived in his own Hammer. He was the middle aged man, balding, he was wearing grey suit. He came to the official dressed in the black costume of the special unit.
"And how is our Alpha operation proceeding, Mr. Scott?" He asked lighting a cigarette.
"It was a total failure, without having the information on the opponent we screwed this action up!" "Mutant, or not... you're trained to fight even with the Hulk, for Christ's sake!" The man became nervous.
"The trouble is that the Hulk isn't telepath but this psycho inside is and he's really good, our boys had no chances without the protection".
"Are they..."
"No, no... we didn't have such fortune. The son of a bitch simply enslaved their minds. Now they're his protection. Each of my 22 boys protecting him, do you understand?" The policeman excused himself. "Indeed you really screwed it up... what remains for us?"
"Not very much, we can try the negotiation, but he's only chatting about the fact that he wants to show his cause to the world and tell public opinion about the mutant registration act. We don't have any contact with him".
"And hostages, safe?" The man asked with anxiety.
"The same as our boys, zombie controlled by the son of a bitch..."
"There is one option, Omega..."
"Exactly. They'll be here soon".
"Goddammit! We must rely on frigging mutants. Again..." The person didn't hide his dislike for the homo superior.
"It's better for me. Let them settle it between themselves".
"You are right. Let these sons of a bitch kill each other".
The people standing in front of the building split up in a hurry seeing the arriving government helicopter. After a moment the machine touched down in the middle of the street raising clouds of dust all around. The woman with blonde hair dressed in the blue costume came out of it. She ran up to the chief constable and the commander of the anti-terrorist squad standing near. She showed them some documents.
"I'm Val Cooper. You can take your people home. Freedom Force is taking over this operation".
"With pleasure. I'm giving you this shat mutant back". The man in the suit announced.
"Mystique. You can start." Val said to the microphone pinned to her clothes.
The restaurant was very elegant inside. Tables arenged with even rows were covered with expensive, white tablecloths. Unfinished meals and opened bottles with the most expensive, branded alcohol lay on some of them. Replicas of famous Greek sculptures were placed here and there and gilded candelabra hung from the ceiling. Guests of the restaurant and the service sat together under one of walls, looking straight ahead with lifeless eyesight. Controlled telepathically police officers from the anti-terrorist unit walked about the restaurant, guarding so that none of hostages breaks free from the trance. The man guilty for everything what happened around sat carefree at one of tables sipping the champagne. He had grey hair and he was dressed in white suit and black tie. He was looking at his living dummies smiling ominously. Alcohol in his glass trembled strangely. After a moment the mutant worked out that all glassware as well as all panes was vibrating. He heard that strange alarming sounds were pursuing from the kitchen's backdoor. He looked at three policemen standing closest. Their eyes, sticking out from under balaclavas, lighted for a split second with white light and everyone of them headed to the backroom. They crossed the door cautiously plunging into the darkness prevailing in the room. Walls shuddered more and more intensively and many different objects fell from shelves. At one point, the floor opened expelling scraps of concrete and kilogrames of dirty mud. A man dressed into blue costume, with the face covered by the helmet emegred from the hole. Avalanche raised his hands and mass of earth and concrete split before him like sea waves.. Controlled policemen pointed their rifles at him and started shooting. The mutant covered himself by building the wall from stones and the soil. When the curtain of dust fell, it turned out that Avalanche's companion entered through the hole in the floor, it was large, sweaty fat person in black dress resembling the body – Blob. He smiled and threw the weapon off policemen's hands with one blow of his chubby hands. When people were defenceless, Blob knocked them out one after the other. The grey haired mutant sensed that his puppets had lost consciousness. He became nervous. The moment of his inattention was used by other Freedom Force members. Somebody ran into the restaurant, he was extremaly fast, he seemed to be only a streak of light for all gathered. All remaining anti-terrorists were disarmed by him. Super Sabre - the older, slim man in the blue costume with the hat of the pilot on his head smiled. The next mutant entered premises: Pyro in red and yellow costume with the flame thrower in his hands. He created large monster from the fire and sent it toward the grey haired terrorist. Hostages controlled by him telepathically looked at the rapidly raging flames with fear. The man only smiled. He took over the control over Pyro, Super Sabre as well as over Blob and Avalanche who at that very moment appeared in the restaurant with just one thought. Satisfied from his victory he decided to send mutants ahead of the building so that they make the slaughter of people gathered there. In the same time the grey haired woman with six arms appeared in the flash of the light. Looking defiantly at the criminal she began the dance strange looking dancing arrangement of steps, by which the woman expressed her preternatural abilities from the borderland of the magic. Spiral was a riddle even for other members of Freedom Force, nobody knew what was the limit of her abilities, neither how and where she acquired them. Noboby knew whether the condition of the mental health of the woman was stable enough to trust her and the majority of persons knowing her thought that it wasn't. The magic of Spiral caused that the man had lost control of mutants, policemen and people who sat on the second end of the room paralysed with fear. Some fat woman shouted squeakily something to her husband. Six-armed woman noticed her, she didn't like something in her behavior. She took the sword out of the scabbard and headed in her direction. Pyro with Avalanche blocked her path.
"I don't like something in her eyesight! Get out of the way!" Spiral shouted.
"We're supposed to be the good ones! Did you forget?" Pyro said.
"I committed myself to help you only up to the moment when I cease to need it. Perhaps this moment came now?" The woman announced.
"You're chatting with each other, and our target is escaping!" Blob announced pointing at the escaping terrorist. The man ran up to the backdoor. He was certain, that when he was apart from the building he would be able to take control over persons from the crowd. He opened the rear exit from the house with a fast move and he ran into the street submerged in the shadow. Two women waited for him at second end of the alley. Mystique with blue skin and yellow eyes and Destiny dressed in blue tunic and the golden mask on the face.
"Raven, he will approach." Masked woman announced to her companion.
"Julia! Prepare!" Mystique shouted.
Shinning yellow web spread out between two opposite buildings surrounding the alley appeared before the escaping criminal. The man fell into it and he could not free himself from it. The blonde girl in the black and white costume with big white spider on the web loomed from darkness into the view. "He caught himself into the web!" She announced. Mystique came up to the victim. Destiny remained in the darkness.
"Good work Julia. And you... I'm the government agent and my group is formed to catch mutants dangerous to this country, as you are. You're under arrest, everything what you will say can be used against you..."
"Traitors of your own race!" The man screamed looking at women with hate. Raven punched him in the face.
"You understand nothing... you're a traitor! It's not important how many own brothers you will betray for this government, you will end up in the camp in Nevada in the end... you and your stupid helpers!" The grey mutant screamed.
"In Nevada? What camp are you talking about?"
"Mystique! Turn away from there! Immediately!" Destiny yelled.
"What do you mean Irene?" The surprised woman asked. Julia Carpenter pushed her fried to the wall and in the same moment a sound of the shot from firearms sounded in the air. After a moment a bloodstain appeared on the shirt of the man and he lost consciousness. Mystique ran toward the exit from the alley. She took the gun out and started looking around. Unfortunately she noticed nobody, he disappeared in the crowd gathered on the street. She wasn't also able to listen to his steps through the prevailing noise. Angry, she came back to the group. Spider Woman kneeled by the seriously injured man. Raven looked questioningly at him.
"He lives, but he's very weak. I call the emergency, they will be here right away".
"Irene..." She turned to the masked woman.
"Could you see his face? The vision showed you who shot?"
"Unfortunately no, I saw only the very fact of shooting and the fact that you could be in danger Raven. When I tried to see the face of the perpetrator, I could see only a fog enveloping it..."
"Thanks for saving my life, Irene". The mission of the group ended with the defeat leaving more questions than replies.