Politics and Strange Bedfellows
Valera Richards sighed as the blonde haired woman looked out at the white house lawn, seeing a Iron Patriot class armored sentry standing watch out on the grass. She looked over at Jessica Hudson and asked, "Don't they worry the suits are based off Stark-tech? He could explode it, or something."
"I know, that's how he took out Norman Osborn way back when," Jessica agreed, the older woman pushing her red hair back from her face, "but after that we went through Ezekiel Stane to produce the suits."
"I'm not sure I trust Zeke much better," Valera noted wryly.
"Ma'am, it's nearly time for your meeting," her personal assistant called as Mercy Gold-Jenkins walked in, her brown hair tied back in a simple ponytail. The daughter of the heroine Songbird Mercy was very familiar with the superhuman world, and capable of dealing with the oddness often involved.
"Thanks, Mercy," Valera agreed as the three walked out of the oval office. "How's our media rep handling the California situation?"
Jessica shrugged, "Molly Hayes is continuing to go with the 'we regret the actions of over eager officials' line, ma'am."
"Molly's such a popular heroine people will buy it," Mercy noted, making a face.
"Don't knock it," Valera said to them, "it works." She sighed, "Too bad Molly's such a good girl... I'd like to bring her into the inner circle, but there's just no way."
The three women reached a set of double doors, the security officer waiting there giving a respectful nod as he opened the door. Within was a dimly lit room, dominated by a large round table in the center and walls lined with what looked like armored plate. Around the table several figures waited, some patiently and others not.
Ezekiel Stane was the current minister for technology, a brown haired cyborg who grafted exotic technology to his own body. Much of the cybernetics used by the Initiative was based off his designs, as well as producing the Scarlet Spiders and Guardsmen. While a invaluable resource he was remarkably amoral, seeing little problems with the use his designs were put to.
Henry Peter Gyrich was the oldest man there, pushing sixy, and he drummed his fingers on the handle of his wheelchair. The redheaded man had headed the Initiative years ago when it was first founded, and had been called back when Valera won the Presidency. Despite this he was a angry, impatient man who seemed unable to see his good fortune.
Kristoff Vernard-Doom sat comfortably in a chair, his dark brown hair falling into his eyes, A bit older than Valera he cut a handsome figure in a three piece suit, but there was something cold in his eyes. Possessed of some of the knowledge and memory of Victor Von Doom he was dangerous, both to his foes and occasionally to himself.
Phoebe Sublime was the last of the inner circle, a blonde haired woman with a eerie resemblance to Emma Frost. She was a telepathic clone of Emma's grown to adulthood, originally intended to serve as part of a plot to destroy the X-Men. While she and her sisters defeated that plot, Phoebe ultimately decided to strike out on her own.
"Henry," Valeria walked to her usual seat and sat down, activating her computer as she asked briskly, "what's the status of the California uprising?"
Pressing his lips together in annoyance Henry conceded, "They've effectively kicked us out of California with their media stunt." He straightened his tie, "Any attempt to bring Initiative teams in will be read as hostile by the public."
"How about your much boasted Shadow team?" Kristoff asked mildly, his smile teasing as he turned a glass of wine about in his hand.
"They're good," Henry snarled at him defensively, "but they can't take on a whole army of stinking mutants."
"I resemble that remark," Phoebe smirked, sipping her coffee.
"He's got a point," Ezekiel reluctantly defended the man.
"Hmm," Valeria didn't look too satisfied but let it go for now. "Phoebe, what do you think they'll do next?" she asked.
"I see two likely options," Phoebe tapped a nail against the table, her stylish dress nearly spilling out her breasts, "either they'll prepare for a siege or bug out, possibly to new Genosha,"
"Why bug out when San Francisco is welcoming them with open arms?" Jessica asked, looking confused.
"Mutants have a strong guilt complex," Phoebe pointed out, "they don't want to see innocents hurt by being around them."
"Any signs they're leaving?" Valeria wondered.
"Ezekiel and I have the region under satellite monitoring," Kristoff noted coolly, "so far there's no signs of a exodus."
"Too bad," Mercy muttered, "it'd make our lives easier. Any chance the Supreme Court might overturn the election?"
"Head Justice Jennifer Walters wouldn't stand for it," Valeria sighed. "Which is too bad, considering we could buy or blackmail the others...."
"And we can't remove Judge She-Hulk," Ezekiel agreed, "god knows we've tried."
Henry sighed, "Be careful what you say, people. This kind of conversation is how they brought down Nixon."
"Who?" Jessica looked confused.
"Kids these days," Henry sighed.
"We know who president Nixon was," Kristoff shook his head, "she's just jerking your chain."
Shaking her head wryly Valeria sighed, "Anything new on the Avengers?"
Ezekiel shrugged, "Stark's hidden their base of operations too well. I can't find them by satelite, and I understand Kristoff's magic is batting zero too."
"Indeed," Kristoff agreed, "while my skills of magic don't match Doom's they are quite potent, yet I remain unable to find their base."
"And you can't backtrack them?" Phoebe asked.
"They seem to use some kind of teleport technology," Ezekiel admitted, "they just appear on my scanners out of nowhere."
"Or they have better cloaking tech," Henry pointed out.
"No one has better technology than me," Ezekiel turned towards Henry, his eyes flashing with sudden fury as his fingers began to glow dangerously.
"No, wait...!" Henry yelped as he tried to roll backwards from the table and away from his furious gaze.
"Don't blast him," Jessica said as she put her hand on Ezekiel's shoulder, "it's so hard to get the mess out of the carpet."
"She's right, dry cleaning is such a chore," Phoebe said casually.
Ezekiel's lips twitched in a reluctant smile, "Point taken, ladies." He looked at Henry, "Remember your life was saved by two women making me laugh."
Valeria sighed in relief, glad she wasn't going to have to step in to save Henry from certain death. If it came down to who was more important, the politically cagey Henry and the mad savant Ezekiel, she'd have a hard time deciding who was going to go.
"Thankfully, I have some good news," Mercy noted as she checked her PC, "one of the initiative teams brought in Songbird's Thunderbolts." She said it perfectly calmly, not even acknowledging they were related.
"About time," Kristoff laughed, "they've been making fools of you since Osborne's day."
"Did it happen publically?" Valeria asked. As Mercy nodded she laughed softly, "Want to bet Songbird will play if for all the good publicity it's worth? It's too bad she won't work with us, she'd be damn good."
"At least she's off the street," Jessica sighed. She smiled, "Maybe we can stick her in the Cube and throw away the key?"
"So, the Thunderbolts are finally down," Ezekiel noted, "and the other renagades? How about Counter Force, the Secret Avengers and the others?"
"For that matter," Valeria sighed, "where's Daddy dearest? Where is Reed Richards and his Fantastic Four?"
"I can't find them mentally," Phoebe admitted, "though he routinely psi-shields his bases, just in case."
"Nor do they appear to be at Four Freedoms Plaza or any of their other bases," Kristoff reported the results of both his and Kristoff's searches. "I even checked with Doom, he hasn't found them either."
"Could Doom have them captive in his castle, hidden underground or somewhere?" Jessica asked them reasonably.
Kristoff actually laughed at that thought. "No," he shook his head, "if Doom had them he would put them on trial for the world to see."
"We need to find them," Mercy said quietly, "because when they find out what you did to Franklin Richards, they'll do everything they can to stop you."
Valeria nodded slightly, "Which is why we have to get them first."
To be continued....
