Incursean Invasion-Part 4
Recap: As it turned out, Gwen, Kevin and Max haven't turned traitor. The whole scheme was to buy enough time for the gang to get to the temporary UN headquarters in Geneva to rally world support for an Allied invasion to recapture the United States. President Obama has just asked to contact the citizens of the U.S to organize and underground resistance movement.
Geneva, Switzerland
"Are you almost done, Gwen?" Max asked.
"I think I have it. I just need a few more seconds," replied Gwen. Suddenly, the satellite beeped twice and a message appeared on the computer screen that read: ACCESS GRANTED.
"Yes! We're now live across every single living room in America!" Gwen exclaimed.
"So Milleous can see this too?" asked Ben and Max at the same time.
"Well, I managed to jam his signal so he can't see what we're broadcasting. But other than that, we're all set."
"Take it away Mr. President," Max said to President Obama.
Obama walked up to the monitor and began to speak. "Good evening, my fellow Americans. Many of you may think I am a coward for running away at a time when the country needs me the most. I assure you that that is not the case. Rather, the measure was for my own safety to ensure a continuity of government in case of emergency, which this certainly qualifies as such. As we speak, I am looking into all possible measures, both diplomatic and dramatic in nature to resolve the crisis. I ask of you in return to do all you can to disobey the new government through peaceful means- protests, marches, etc. However, do not do anything that is illegal under our own Constitution. That means no rioting, looting or attacking the police. I'll end with a quote from Psalm 23:4: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Thank you and God Bless these United States!"
Obama turned to Gwen. "Now I need you to establish a direct link to the White House. I wish to speak directly with the new leader."
The link was established. A bored voice came through on the other end. "Hello Earthling scum. To whom do I give the honor of speaking to his majesty supreme?"
"Is this Emperor Milleous, light of the Incursean Empire, blah,blah, blah?" asked Obama. "This is the currently elusive 44th President of the United States
"How dare you mock my office!"
"Your office? I kindly remind you that I was the rightful President before you came and usurped me."
"Enough of this! What do you want? I don't have all day to talk to deposed leaders, you know!"
"You shall end your conquest right now or suffer the consequences!"
"Hah! You expect me to believe that? What are you going to do? Complain to the UN?"
"As a matter of fact, I already have. But that's not the point. The point is, if you don't remove yourself from my country within 48 hours, we will have no choice but to use force."
"You and what army? Oh right. You have no army!"
"Oh there'll be an army all right. An army made of millions, even billions of people. I'll be keeping in touch with you to see that you meet the deadline."
"Where are you right now?"
"Where do you think the new UN is? It's in Switzerland!"
"Enjoy your last minutes of existence then. How does it feel to be the leader of a hopeless country."
"Wo! I feel good!"
"I'll put an end to your endless pop culture references!" Millious slammed down the phone.
"Ok. Diplomacy is out of the picture. Now what?"
"Time to crush some Incursean toads!" screamed Kevin.
"Hold your horses son," said Obama.
"I do not believe Kevin has any horses to hold," exclaimed Rook. Ben gave him a look.
"We should totally enroll you in the American Education system when we re-conquer America," Gwen said.
"Aggh! Too many years learning about useless Earth expressions! Why not say, it's raining hard instead of, it's raining cats and dogs?" asked Rook.
"No idea," said Ben.
"Guys. I hate to interrupt your fascinating discussion of our failing educational system, but we have more pressing matters at hand," chimed in President Obama.
"What is it?" asked Max.
"Milleous said he was going to nuke this place to stop me from regaining control."
"It's hero time then!" Ben declared.
"Ben, you take Gwen and protect this facility. Everyone else, run to the bomb shelters," ordered Max.
"I can handle it on my own," said Ben.
"No you're not! We're family and that means we stick together!" exclaimed Gwen.
"I'm with you too!" said Kevin.
"What can you do that I don't know of?" asked Ben and Gwen, who were both surprised.
"I can absorb anything remember? That includes lead. And as we all know, lead blocks radiation."
"And I was worried about you passing your GED…" muttered Gwen.
As there were no fall-out shelters in Geneva, Rook had everyone dig trenches to hide in. Gwen cast her Presidiumspell to protect them from the blast. Ben transformed into Murk Upchuck and prepared to swallow the missile.
USS Kitty Hawk
"Sir, we've just receive orders from Emperor Milleous to attack the UN headquarters in Geneva," said a sailor.
"And why would we do that? Tell the battle crew to ignore that order. I repeat, do not fire on Geneva," ordered the captain. Alarms suddenly began to blare.
"Sir, missile #24 is on its way to the launch silo!"
"Abort now! Under no circumstances will we attack an ally."
"Sir, we can't do anything. The abort command isn't working! I've lost control of the weapon!"
"Use the manual over-ride!"
"That isn't working either. The best I can do is to alter the missile's path by a few miles."
"Go do that then! Every mile means lives saved." The technician came back a few minutes later.
"Turns out that didn't work either. The missile is launching right now. There's nothing we can do except watch and pray."
With a roar and a burst of flames, the missile arced out of the silo on the submarine.
"Lord have mercy on those poor people!" the captain exclaimed.
"Sir, the President is in Geneva, you know?"
"Can this day get any worse?"
Geneva
"Ben, I've got a fix on that missile. 46.2000° N, 6.1500° E. Impact time is five minutes," reported Gwen.
"Preparing for interception…" responded Ben.
The missile plummeted from the sky without warning. Ben barely had time to swallow the missile before it exploded in his mouth. Luckily, Kevin ran over and covered Ben with lead to protect the latter from the radiation and Gwen managed to encase Ben in a sphere of mana to isolate him ( Murk Upchuck is not affected by explosions).
"That was too close for comfort. Nice job kids!" exclaimed Max.
"I shall bestow upon you three the Medal of Honor," said President Obama.
"I thought only military personnel could receive those. We don't qualify," said Gwen.
"Rules can be bended under extreme circumstances. You three have clearly demonstrated actions above and beyond the call of duty. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a mass protest to orchestrate." Obama turned again to the live broadcast to his fellow Americans.
"Greetings. It is time now to gather in the streets to demand change. Do whatever needs to be done to get Milleous' attention. Good luck!"
Ferguson, Missouri
"Hey! You there! Stop in the name of his majesty Emperor Milleous!" screamed an Incursean Death-Squad member.
"Is walking on the sidewalk now a crime?" asked Jamal Harris.
"No, but you forgot to kiss the statue of Emperor Milleous before you stepped into the crosswalk."
"Screw your Emperor's rules! I have green hair."
"I don't care what color hair you have. You can't disrespect our savior Emperor Lord Milleous."
"I can do whatever I want." Harris began to walk away.
"Hey! Get back here! I'm not done ranting!"
"Whatever." Harris continued walking.
"I'll arrest you if you don't stop!"
"You can do that only if you catch me," taunted Harris as he began to run.
The Death-Squad member aimed is blaster set to stun at Harris. The teen's knees buckled and he collapsed the ground right in front of his house.
"Enough. You win! Don't shoot me!" exclaimed Harris.
"You know what? I think I will because I find you annoying." The next shot seemingly vaporized the teen.
"Nooooooo!" his family screamed as they ran out of the house. They saw the tattered clothing and feared the worst.
"You killed my child, you sick freak!" screamed the mother.
"I was only doing my job, which is to execute people who refuse to accept the rule of Emperor Milleous."
As one, the family rushed the officer and beat him up. Broken and battered, the officer retreated to his headquarters. A crowd soon gathered at the headquarters of the Death-Squad in Ferguson and vandalized the place.
White House
"Sir, are you seeing this? You know, the riots in Ferguson?" an aide asked.
"I do," replied Milleous.
"What are you going to do about it?"
"I want a ban on all unsanctioned demonstrations and the arrest of all people who have vandalized the Death-Squad headquarters and beaten up its officers. This should be broadcast on Will Harangue Nation. I shall accept a demonstration in front of the White House to hear the people's grievances, but I haven't decided what to do with them after," said Milleous.
All across the United States
"Attention comrades, Emperor Milleous has just issued Presidential Decree # 3, which bans all unsanctioned demonstrations. As such, you must cease all public gatherings of more than 200 people or suffer the consequences. Anyone who wishes to bring grievances to his majesty can do so next Tuesday in front of the White House. Furthermore, all acts of rioting and looting will not be tolerated. It is advised that you remain indoors. Remember, stay safe to live long! Glory to Lord Emperor Milleous! This has been Will Harangue Nation."
Meanwhile…back in Geneva
"Hmm, seems like the insurrection wasn't a total failure. Although it had to end, the protestors are allowed a demonstration at the White House," reported Max as he switched off the T.V.
"Excellent! So, when can I get my job back?" asked Obama.
"We do not know the status of the Incursean Army. The armed struggle may take many years," replied Rook.
"Years?! I'm close to the end of my second term. I don't have time to wait for a war to end!" Obama exclaimed.
"Relax, Mr. President. I'm sure Rook was just exaggerating."
"All my comments are as close to fact as can be. I do not exaggerate anything."
"No wonder you have no sense of humor, Rook. You take things way too seriously," said Ben.
"The situation at hand has no place for humor," Rook said.
"He's right," Max said. "We need to concentrate on how to get back into the U.S."
"We can discuss that later, after we've established a rebel group in the U.S. I'm counting on those back home to split the U.S in two. That way, it will be easier to make our way back. Until then, we'll have to stay here," said Obama.
"Great! Where are we going to stay for the next few days? I don't want to stay in the UN compound forever. The toilets are always clogged up!" complained Ben.
"Excuse me. I have to talk to Milleous again. His 48 hours are up," said Obama as he left the room.
"Relax Ben. I've already researched this. There's a hotel about 2 miles from the UN compound," said Gwen.
"Is it a five star one?" asked Ben.
"Anything's ok as long as I get to put my car in a garage," chimed in Kevin.
"It's a one star. Yeah, I know that sucks. However it's about to get much worse. We only have enough money for five rooms, which means one of us will have to share a room with someone else. Obviously President Obama gets his own room." said Gwen.
"Ok. Me and Rook in a room then," said Ben.
"We can't have that. The cleaning maid might get freaked out by Rook. He'll have to stay in his own room."
"Are you hinting that you and I will have to share a room?" asked Ben.
"Exactly," said Gwen. "It wasn't my first choice, but what can we do?"
"In that case, I choose the floor. You can sleep on the bed."
"Really? I don't recall you being so generous. What made you change?"
"One word: puberty," said Kevin.
Both cousins turned red. "Ok, I'll go make the reservations right now," said Gwen to get out of the embarrassing situation.
"And I'll go unpack our stuff. The rest of you stay here," said Max.
A couple of hours later…
"All right, I think that's the last bag," huffed Fourarms as he set down the final four suitcases on the floor of the suite. He then transformed back to Ben.
"Good lord! Would you look at the time! It's almost 12:00 midnight. You guys better go get some sleep. I'll take the first watch," said Max.
"And why do we need one?" asked Ben.
"Because doofus, the President is here! Someone could try and take him out while we're here," exclaimed Gwen.
"I knew that, ok."
"Time for bed! Chop-chop. And no funny business from any of you, do you hear me?" asked Max.
"Don't even go there Gramps," said Ben. "We're all responsible teenagers."
"That's what I'm worried about."
"Enough said. Good night!" said Ben.
"Good night to you too, Ben!"
"Cheerio mate!" said Rook. "Yes, I've been learning to speak like a Brit. You Americans are so informal."
They all retired to their respective rooms for the night. As promised, Ben slept on the floor and the awkward night passed without incident.
Meanwhile across the Atlantic… (3 hours back on Tuesday, October 28, 2014)
In front of the White House
"Hands up! Don't shoot! What do we want? Justice! We do we want it? Now!" The chant echoed across the White House grounds. Emperor Milleous soon grew tired of it. He stepped out in front of the balcony.
"What do I have to do to get you to stop protesting?" he asked.
"We want justice for Jamal! And to do that we need a fair legal system! And to have that, we need democracy!" And then the people began to sing.
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!
"Fine! You want democracy? I'll give you democracy! A referendum will be held tomorrow to determine whether or not to split the DPRM into two along the Mississippi River. The West half will have its own government and will be completely free from my control Anyone who wishes to migrate to the West may do so. I'm only doing so because I'm tired of hearing your complaints over and over again!" screamed Milleous. At this the people cheered and dispersed, sure that by tomorrow, they would be separate from Milleous.
"Fools! I'm still in control here. Nothing will change that!" Milleous roared.
Hotel in Geneva
Ben woke up to find Gwen on top of him. "What the devil!" he yelled.
"Sorry about that Ben. I must have rolled off the bed. I'm just so tired." She untangled herself from her cousin.
"Were you up all night again? I thought gramps told us to go to bed."
"I checked the Will Harangue Network. Apparently Milleous is holding a referendum on secession. If it succeeds, the Western half of the country will no longer be controlled by him."
"Awesome! So now it's time to go back and reclaim our country!"
"That's right, Ben!"
"Wait till I tell Gramps, Rook and Kevin!"
"They already know. In fact only President Obama doesn't know."
"Why? He should be the first one to know!"
"I couldn't find him! Everyone is looking for him. It seems as though the President just vanished!"
"It seems like you guys didn't look closely enough," the President said with a huge grin on his face. "I wasn't on the hotel floor. I was in the kitchen making breakfast."
"I highly doubt this hotel's food is even edible. I mean, it doesn't even have a kitchen staff. You have to service yourself!" said Ben.
"Now that I think about it, you're right," said Obama. "I was up for an hour making what I thought were pancakes."
"What were they really?" Gwen and Ben asked, interested.
"Let's not talk about it. Luckily, I have enough money for a McDonald's stop."
"Hold it! You're the President. People are supposed to serve you, not the other way around. We can't accept your money!" said Ben.
"Well, if you'd rather go without breakfast…" said Gwen.
"On second thought, I'll take it. Let's go wake the others."
On the way to the McDonalds, Max filled President Obama in on the referendum.
"By all accounts, the 'yes' vote should succeed. If it does, we can go back to the Western half by tomorrow."
"That's great!"
After they had all eaten at McDonalds, they all returned to the UN to brief the world community on the recent developments.
"We are all Americans today," the French delegate declared. Every delegate voted to send help to the U.S. Meanwhile, the results from the referendum were being announced.
Referendum Day (November 4th, 2014)
"And the results are in! With 60,567,450 votes for yes and 57,986,453 for no, the secession vote is a resounding yes. The Western half of the DPRM is now independent. Presidential elections will be held tomorrow to decide the leader of the yet unnamed country, population: 250,000,000. This is Will Harangue Nation, which unfortunately, will not be able to be broadcast in the new country. It's time to say 'Au Revoir' for folks on the West coast to the best in news, proudly serving the Milleous government for about three months now."
Presidential Election 2014
"Joe Biden is the new President of the U.S with 50.01% of the vote!" CNN declared.
"Thank you all for voting for me! I promise to win back the Eastern United States so we can once again be called the United States. For now, let us be known as the Disbanded States of 22 or DS22," announced Biden. "I have also terminated all relations with the DPRM. For our purposes, we are now enemies with them."
UN Headquarters
The election results as well as Biden's Inauguration speech were broadcast live on the jumbotron. President Obama immediately called the former VP.
"Congrats Mr. President!"said Obama.
"There's no need sir. I've learned it all from you."
"Oh, don't be modest! A victory is a victory all the same. Now when can we get back to the DS22?"
"Are you bringing any troops with you? Most of the generals went missing. We think Milleous took them to wreck our war effort. Those who are left aren't competent enough."
"Troops won't be a problem. I was told I could borrow the troops from the other countries as I saw fit. As for a skilled Commander of the Army, I'll see what I can do."
"You'd better hurry. War could break out any day now." Biden hung up the phone. Obama took Max, Ben, Gwen, Kevin and Rook out of the conference room to talk in private.
"I need a Commander and fast. Who's up to the task?"
"Grandpa Max!" Ben and Gwen said instantly.
"I'm sorry, but he's far too old. Anyone else?"
"Ben, you could be a Commander!" said Gwen.
"Me? I'm way too young and I don't have any leadership experience."
"You've been leading me and Gwen on missions ever since like one year ago," said Kevin. "I think that qualifies as experience."
"You are a natural leader Ben. We all know that," said Rook.
"Even if I was, how am I going to get the military experience I need in a few days time?"
"Hmm, that's a hard one."
"Allow me," a voice said. An old man with spectacles suddenly appeared out of thin air.
"Professor Paradox?! What are you doing here," Everyone except for President Obama shouted.
"Who is this man?" He politely asked.
"Ok, this is going to sound crazy," said Ben.
"Oh, I know crazy from being around you guys for about a week," said Obama.
"This man can travel through time. So that's why he's a paradox, for he can never age."
"How right you are my dear Ben! And that is exactly what you're going to do! I shall take you all on a journey through time to learn the strategies that you must know to win the upcoming showdown. But be warned, unlike previous times, you can alter history with your actions and you can also die. Therefore, I would advise the President and Max Tennyson to remain behind." said Paradox.
"All right! The dream team is back in action! Just you, me, Gwen, Kevin and Rook on a journey through history to save the present day!" exclaimed Ben.
Paradox opened up a time portal to the first time period. "After you my friends!" he said.
They all looked back at Max and President Obama. "See you guys in a bit!"
"Bon voyage and Godspeed!"
So… how is that for a dramatic plot twist? Do you like the time travel idea? Review please! (Lyrics are from Les Miz and the Ferguson scene is inspired by real events…)