Black and White
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to DC or Marvel. I own Farrah/Persiana and Leon/Crisis.
Chapter 16: Judge and Jury
It was two days after the incident involving the Black Lanterns and White Martians. Iron Man had called the Illuminati for a special emergency session to discuss what they could do about Farrah, Tony's daughter. However, Namor refused to appear, not wanting anything to do with Reed Richards any more, citing Susan's death. Dr. Strange had also refused to come, instead assisting the remnants of Captain America's rebellion.
Black Bolt had come, despite his initial refusal. He was planning to go to war with Vulcan and the Shi'ar over a recent attack. Hopefully, this would not take long. (1)
Professor Xavier had also come. The bald telepath was finally able to walk, and had a lot to answer for with his team.
Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man took a seat and the proceedings began. Reed stood up and explained,
"Gentlemen, the terrorist Farrah has been apprehended and will now be brought before us."
Pressing a button, a bound Farrah was brought in. The lioness was restrained in a hovering chair, unable to move. She shrieked,
"LET ME OUT!! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU ALL, I'LL DO THINGS TO YOU EVEN THE WHITE MARTIANS WOULD NEVER THINK OF DOING!!"
Black Bolt signed something, to which Reed responded,
"Yes, Black Bolt. This is completely necessary. This woman is a threat to our agenda."
The ruler of the Inhumans studied the white-haired feline heroine for a moment before signing something. Reed was surprised,
"Black Bolt, are you serious?"
His answer came as the ruler stood up and left the proceedings.
Tony asked,
"What's his problem?"
Professor Xavier answered,
"It appears this problem, as Reed puts it, is not enough to warrant our action."
Mr. Fantastic shook his head,
"Let's move on. Farrah Willows, you are being charged with terrorism, treason, and murder. What is your plea?"
Farrah just glared at the stretchable scientist, not saying a word. Reed looked up,
"Miss Willows, you must enter a plea, or you'll be held in contempt."
Persiana sneered,
"I have nothing but contempt for you all. You're all responsible for Leon's death!"
Reed shook his head,
"Crisis never understood the full extent of our plans. We couldn't risk it being exposed. It was a matter of our own survival."
Farrah was stunned,
"Survival? You don't know a damn thing about survival, Reed! That clone Thor was your idea! You should be in this chair instead of me!"
Reed explained,
"It was the decision of the six of us to institute this plan. The superheroes were getting to powerful and too numerous to keep track of. We had to step in and figure a way to control and monitor the problem."
The lioness frowned in confusion,
"Wait, superheroes were the problem? What the hell have you been huffing in the lab, Richards?"
Reed looked at her,
"I think you would know; all those…incidents…that occurred when you were on the Avengers."
Farrah rolled her eyes,
"Is this about all those pranks I played on Barbie and Gyrich? I swear, they were harmless. Well, maybe throwing acid in Gyrich's pants wasn't, but they didn't cause any irreparable damage, right?"
Reed folded his arms,
"The point is, you were out of control, and, while Captain America may have tolerated your antics…we didn't. Captain America was becoming obsolete, and we had to get rid of him."
Persiana struggled out of the chair, shouting,
"CAP WAS MORE OF A HERO THAN YOU EVER WILL BE, RICHARDS!! PEOPLE LOOKED UP TO HIM!!!"
Tony shook his head,
"We know. That's why we drafted this plan together; all six of us. By eliminating Captain America, we would be the new leaders of the super hero community, and we would be able to guide the superheroes in the direction that they ought to be in, not the direction they were on under Captain America."
Farrah snarled,
"He was our friend. He was our leader. How could you just betray a great man like Steve?"
Reed said,
"History will always remember Captain America for the things he did, but his time to step down was long overdue. If he stepped down, none of this would be necessary. We would not have needed Nitro and his help in all of this." (2)
Farrah was horrified,
"It was you all along? You blew up Stamford?"
Tony nodded,
"I made a few phone calls and organized everything."
Persiana jumped up so suddenly, the chair shook. Despite the sudden movement, the restraints held. She shrieked at the top of her lungs,
"YOU BASTARDS!!! HOW MANY LIVES DID YOU RUIN FOR THIS SICK PLAN?!!
Professor Xavier, deciding to break his silence, said,
"I admit, there have been times in this plan that even I find distasteful, but, the end result will ensure that, if superheroes can be accepted like this, then perhaps mutants can be too."
Farrah growled,
"You are all insane! You just can't play God with people's lives like this!"
The telepath looked to his colleagues,
"Do you think we should tell her about the Hulk?"
The lioness was surprised,
"What about him?"
Tony explained,
"The Hulk was too dangerous to stay on Earth, so we knocked him out and exiled him into deep space, to a planet where he won't be able to do any harm to anyone."
Persiana was stunned at what she was hearing,
"I thought Bruce found the cure."
Reed shook his head,
"That is what everyone thought. However…it doesn't matter. Farrah Willows, you have been found guilty on all charges. As such, your sentence is death."
Farrah struggled to break the restraints or slip out of them, but, try as she might; the lioness was completely pinned by them. The lioness watched as Iron Man walked up to her and removed his mask.
Tony raised his hand, charging an energy pulse,
"Farrah, I wish there was another way. I am sorry."
Farrah closed her eyes, a tear trickling down her cheek. She felt the heat as the blast came her way.
A loud metal clang was heard and Farrah opened her eyes. She noticed the restraints had been burned off and Iron Man was on the ground. Mr. Fantastic was also down.
Several armored troops moved in, taking Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man, and Professor Xavier away. One of the armored soldiers came and undid Farrah's restraints,
"Miss Willows, are you all right?"
Farrah nodded,
"Yes, but who are you people?"
"I'm so very glad you asked that, Persiana."
As the soldiers made way for their commander, the white-furred feline acrobat was stunned at what she was seeing.
A brown haired man in a dark business suit walked up to her. He had a maniacal, insane glint in his eyes, but his smile was sane, if evil. Farrah growled,
"Norman Osborn."
Osborn smiled,
"Hello, my dear. Thanks for helping me capture these two traitors. Without you or Professor Xavier's help, we would have never have known about his."
He added,
"By the way, I think you and I should have a long talk about what's been happening in the last two days. It deeply concerns your future."
Next Chapter:
Just what is Norman Osborn up to? Find out what, next time!
(1) See 'War of Kings' Comic series for details
(2) Nitro was the super-villain that exploded in Stamford, sparking Registration.