I do not own the characters. DC and Marvel do.
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Chapter Three
Anvil
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"…and anti-mutant protests are on the rise." Agent Alvers said, pressing the control that switched the briefing screens to a graph and several video-windows. "Despite the backlash caused by the actions of the group calling itself the Friends of Humanity, especially the one at Bayville, anti-mutant sentiment is still rising."
"And it is rising because…?" Fury prompted.
Alvers pressed another control and the graph vanished, being replaced by the image of a robed man.
"We have been unable to identify this man, but he calls himself the Supreme Pontiff of the Church of Humanity. The platform that they work from is that God created Humanity and Mutants are people who have been corrupted by the Devil. They have already fended off two lawsuits by using the Freedom of Religion laws and while they have so far refrained from using violence, our analysts indicate that their propaganda is becoming more extreme, indicating that they may well try to begin attacking mutants soon."
"Are the CoH linked to the FoH?"
"Officially, no." Alvers said, glancing down at the screen hovering in front of him. "Unofficially, at least a quarter of their membership is comprised of FoH activists and known sympathisers."
"This is… irritating." Fury finally stated. "Civil unrest rising just as SHIELD is forced to suspend over ninety percent of its activities in order to clean house. What do our analysts think are the chances that someone is fomenting the unrest to take advantage of our inability to react?"
"Very high." Alvers sighed. "Almost certain, in fact."
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The teleport device flashed as an old man clad in fine purple robes appeared, then the man's face seemed to flicker, transforming from that of the old man to a far younger, scarred man.
"Master Mold." The man said as he came to attention.
"Boliver Trask." The giant robot sat at the end of the re-purposed secret base replied. "Report."
Bolivar nodded, knowing that Master Mold could easily have simply uploaded his memories, but that she was choosing to respect his abilities.
"The Church of Humanity is making progress with the congregation up to over a thousand. I intend to release the first internet speech soon, but my grasp of mob psychology isn't as advanced as yours. The file is COHIS1."
Master Mold's golden eyes flickered slightly as she accessed the file and analysed it.
"I have integrated some modifications to the speech and placed it as file COHIS1.1. Please review it and decide if it is the direction you wish for the CoH to travel."
"I will." Bolivar said, then he closed his eyes so that he could concentrate better. Mentally pulling up both files, he compared them, then made some adjustments to the second one. Saving the changes, he opened his eyes again.
"I admit, I was quite surprised at how little reaction I got from SHIELD."
"SHIELD are currently concentrating on removing the influences of the organisation known as Hydra." Master Mold replied.
"Ahhhh." Trask said in sudden understanding. "So that is why you suggested that now would be a good time for setting up the Church. And by the time that they've finished doing whatever it is that they're doing…"
"The Church of Humanity will be too well established for them to take action against without risking their reputation." Master Mold finished as Trask grinned almost ferally.
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"Wow. What a mess." Anne-Marie Hoag stated as she stood looked out of the Fantasticar at the debris below.
"My people have already begun removing as much of the classified technology as they can, but we need assistance in clearing up the mess." Fury said from the second passenger cockpit.
"Good thing I have a pair of Kryptonians on my workforce." Anne-Marie smirked, then she saw Fury staring at her through the cockpits while in front of them, Karsta Wor-Ul half-turned from piloting the aircraft to look at her in question.
"They are the last two of those Superman rescued from Argo, they were revived on New Krypton a fortnight ago." Anne-Marie explained. "They wanted to take some time to consider their future and so I offered them jobs."
"I think I remember them.. but I wasn't fully lucid at the time I was put into stasis. I remember hearing that their pods had been transferred to New Krypton." Karsta mused and Anne-Marie shrugged.
"Cast-Or and Poll-Ux. Apparently they're double-twin-cousins with their parents being… well, Cast-Or's dad is the twin brother of Poll-Ux's mother and the other way round. They were even born on the same day in the same med-facility."
"That's… weird." Fury finally admitted. "And I'm speaking as someone who went undercover to help a New York cop defuse a bomb using three liters of water. Long story."
"I've seen enough." Anne-Marie said and Karsta turned the Fantasticar round, accelerating away from the battlefield.
"We will be back at the Helicarrier in ten minutes." Karsta stated as she Fantasticar ascended towards the cloud layer.
"So, are you taking the job?"
"Of course, Director. Damage Control will start work tomorrow." Anne-Marie replied with a slight smile. "Just make certain that your people have taken away the more… energetic items. I don't want to have to deal with the paperwork caused by one of my people having an origin."
"I'll assign two more scanner units to the site within the hour." Fury conceded. "Now, more importantly, two Kryptonians? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to get one?"
"At the time, there were less of us." Karsta supplied, her voice bubbling with suppressed laughter.
"I suppose I can't tempt you to transfer?" Fury grumped and Karsta lost her fight against laughter.
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"Welcome back, Karsta." Reed Richards said as the Fantasticar settled onto the landing pad and the pilot's canopy opened. "Did the sensors work?"
"Transmitting the data now." Karsta said as one of the workstations flashed with lines of data rapidly scrolling. "I looked over the readings after dropping off Fury and Hoag and the Helicarrier II's were not using Kryptonite reactors."
"Good." Reed said as he stretched his neck to look at the scrolling data. "There's too much of that stuff around already."
"Why are you so worried about it?" Karsta queried as she finished shutting down the Fantasticar's systems. "I mean, it's not like it affects you."
"No, but it affects you." Reed replied as he frowned at one of the datapoints. "If not for the advice you gave me… and keep giving me, come to think about it, my marriage to Susan would probably be falling apart and it wouldn't be her fault in the slightest. You remind me to not get too sucked in by my projects and you give Susan someone to vent at safely whenever I do something incredibly stupid."
During Reed's speech, Karsta floated out of the cockpit and landed lightly next to him, blushing lightly.
"You know, that's one of the sweetest things you've said." She smiled and Reed paused.
"Please don't tell Susan. I'm sure she suspects I'm an idiot when it comes to emotions, I'd prefer that she didn't actually have proof."
"I already knew." Susan laughed as she rippled into visibility, causing Reed to freeze. "But at least you're getting better. We'll leave you to your data. Coming, Karsta?"
Karsta nodded. "Retail therapy?"
"Retail therapy." Susan confirmed as the two linked arms and walked out of the lab. Reed watched them go and winced slightly.
"Why do I think my wallet is going to need an emergency infusion?" He muttered and an intercom sprang to life.
"Because it will." Karsta's voice said. "We'll be getting your birthday present for Sue."
Reed froze as to his chagrin, he remembered about Karsta's super-hearing, then he called up a calendar on his main monitor.
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"That was mean." Susan giggled as Karsta released the intercom button.
"Maybe it'll remind him to finish all the sound-proofing." Karsta replied. "I swear, I thought that you two would slow down after the first few months, but you're still going at it. I'm astonished you're not pregnant yet."
Susan blushed even as she cupped one hand over her stomach and Karsta's eyes widened.
"You are? You are!" She gasped, then she pulled Susan into a gentle hug. "Yay! I'm going to be an aunt! What are you going to call it? Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?"
Susan smiled as Karsta held her at arm's length. "Reed and I have already discussed it and if it's a boy, we were thinking Franklin, or Valeria if it's a girl. However, we're waiting until our child is born to find out the gender, although I've had to stop Reed from trying to design the nursery. Where he got the idea for a repulsorlift-enabled crib from…"
Susan trailed off, shaking her head, then looked quizzically at Karsta. "Spill."
"I think he might have got it from Tony." Karsta laughed. "Natalia was telling me yesterday of Tony's attempt at helping put together the nursery… They've still got the crib in one of the store-rooms!"
"I've seen young Harry's room." Susan said with a headshake. "How did they manage to make all those colours work together? I mean, blue, red, gold, green, purple and black… it just shouldn't work…"
"Come on." Karsta smiled. "Let's see what colours and designs we can come up with. Who knows what Reed will come up with if we don't take charge."
Susan giggled as they stepped into the lift.
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Phil Coulson stared out of the viewport as the first girders were floated into position in the zero-g building slip. Further away, he could see the shapes of the first group of pre-fabricated rooms and conduits ready to be installed.
"So, the construction of the Triskelion II is underway." A voice said, breaking his near-meditative concentration on the activities outside and he turned to nod at Sabra.
"Here to keep an eye on me again?"
"I've been assigned as your liaison until the end of the project, so… yes." Sabra smiled as she joined him and looked out of the viewport. "You know, thing like that still amaze me."
Phil followed her gaze and watched three Kryptonians, easily recognisable by the fact that they had forsaken space-suits in favour of face-masks, manhandling one of the hundred-plus meter alloy beams into position while a group of human workers floated in wait with complex machinery. A second beam moved into position and Phil glanced round, finally finding one human with his/her hands extended, obviously using a meta-power to jockey it into position.
"Is that a mutant?" Phil asked and Sabra gave him a sidelong glare. "What?"
"There is no legal difference between Humans, New Olympians, Kryptonians, Mutants, Metahumans or any other sentient beings." Sabra ground out. "All are welcome to join the Defence Force as long as they are willing to follow legal orders and work for the good of the solar system."
"I was just curious." Phil said defensively. "My next question was going to be about how those with powers had been integrated so well. Only a few of the organisations on Earth have tried putting powered and unpowered individuals together, it's trickier than it sounds."
"True." Sabra allowed. "Those without powers are often envious of those with, while those who use powers have to be careful not to fall into the trap of seeing themselves as being intrinsically superior to those without. It's no surprise that Clark Kent is so venerated here."
Phil blinked. "I'm sorry… what?"
"Clark Kent is venerated here." Sabra repeated as outside, the beams were slotted together and the workers moved in to start fusing them together. "I believe that many of those with powers on Earth use him as a touchstone of how they themselves should operate, yes?"
Phil nodded. "He is the most well-regarded hero, yes."
"And most of those who have powers look to him for an example in how to use them." Sabra continued. "He has done more by himself to advance the cause of those with powers than any four other heroes. He's the son of a pair of normal humans, married to a mutant and has a mutant as his adopted sister, has adopted a Kryptonian, accepted his wife's long-lost son as his own and helped set up or enhance quite a few of the other teams without asking for anything in return other than that they try their best. He is a true super man."
Phil nodded, then glanced at her, noting her slight blush.
"You've got his calendar, haven't you?"
Sabra's face turned bright red and Phil turned back to the viewport, his lips twitching with a repressed grin.
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Author's afternote – Yes, the Die Hard series is now also IS-canon!
