New Earth

Chapter Two: The Inhuman Question

August 2018

"In summary the mandatory conscription of enhanced humans as outlined in the executive order issued on August 6th of 2018 violates the the Thirteenth Amendment's prohibition of involuntary servitude and it violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment by singling out Enhanced Individuals for indefinite military service. The order fails to address, in any substantial way, the welfare of enhanced minors. It blatantly ignores existing child labor laws, in addition to disregarding the entire civilized world's condemnation of the use of child soldiers."

Later. Matt Murdock ran his fingers over the face of his watch, "Three hours and they're still deliberating? They might as well just say they aren't sure whether human rights apply to the Enhanced."

"Or they could be going over doctor drafts and the 1981 decision to uphold women's exemption from the selective service registration based on the military's needs," Foggy said. "You're just antsy because they make you wait in a soundproof room ever since that one judge realized you could eavesdrop on the juries."


January 2019

"Crimes attributed to Enhanced Individuals, ranging from vandalism to bank robberies, continue to rise following the most recent revision of the executive order prohibiting them from leaving the planet," a reporter said in the background.

Melanie Amaquelin, Brian Bolt and several other Inhumans gathered in a dingy hotel room. "I say we hit Stark Towers next," a dark haired man declared. "With some of their tech to work from I could do so much."

A second member of the group, heavily tattooed with an elongated skull, shook his head, "We don't want to do anything that compromises the humans' ability to defend themselves, Max. That will only encourage them to try to hold on to us more tightly."

"They can try," Max smirked. "We will gather our brethren. We will meet the Ravagers price and they will take us from this miserable planet. Why shouldn't we take whatever might aid us on our way out? So what if the humans suffer for it?"

Brian put his hand on Max's shoulder and shook his head.

"Oh brother," Max sighed. "Your bleeding heart will be the death of us some day."

"No," Melanie said firmly. "It's not just about taking the high road. We'll never be able to get everyone and Kamal is right, harming their war preparations will only make them more cruel to our kin who we aren't able to save. Stark Industries is off limit."

"Imitators of our protests are sufficiently numerous," Kamal said. "Their activities will camouflage our true goal, the Ravanagers' price: The Cyttorak Ruby."

Brian nodded and opened a guide book to National Museum of Natural History.

"Good of them to house it with the Hope Diamond," Kamal commented. "That simple rock distracts security from their true treasure."


Alexei leaned back against the wall of the Avengers Academy with a tired groan.

"The Statue of Liberty is unmolested, no one got hurt when the local Immigration Office was attacked, Peter managed keep the protest on his campus nonviolent. I'd say we had a good day," Carol told him.

"You missed the part where I came back to the Academy and had to break up a fight between the 'It's our responsibility to fight' crowd and the 'Government is stripping us of our rights' crowd," Alexei groaned.

"They're predominantly teenagers," Carol sighed. "Between the villains and the vigilantes the Enhanced population is orders of magnitude more likely than the baseline population to take the law into their own hands when confronted with either a real or perceived wrong: We have the ability so we're prone to using it. And how can we expect a bunch of teens to remember to use their words when their elders failed so spectacularly at that?"

Alexei's gaze turned calculating, "Would Jim be offended if he were asked to come and address them on the Avengers' Civil War? It seems to me that the children could use a reminder of costs when arguments are settled with fists. The school is still small enough that all the students know one another. And they are good kids, even those who perpetually feud would be disturbed at the thought of doing one another permanent harm. The thought of killing one of their classmates would, I think, be horrifying."

"So basically you want him to show up and remind them why he's in a wheelchair and how his best friend died?" Carol asked.

"And perhaps remind them of the other lives lost in Bucharest and Berlin, that their actions impact others beyond themselves."

"Captain Danvers," FRIDAY interrupted. "Report of a break in at the Smithsonian in D.C. The police aren't sure if it's an Enhanced crime but they've asked for standby support. The SHIELD team stationed in DC is light on Enhanced, politicians don't trust us and we don't trust them. But Tigra's there lobbying against the immigration ban along with Moon Knight and Jack Russell."

Carol blew out a frustrated breath. "Marc failed his last psych evaluation-"

"Because he was taking missions from the voices in his head," FRIDAY interjected.

"Jack couldn't get approval to operate because of his moon problem."

"I'd rather work with him than with Tigra," FRIDAY said. "Morse is on the SHIELD team, didn't Greer sleep with her ex-husband?"

"That won't be an issue," Carol said. "Forward the information to all three of them and let Bobbi know they're available if she needs them."

"Do you ever catch yourself hoping it is an unenhanced criminal and that the police will not wish for our aid?" Alexei asked.

"I just wish it was New York and we had a half-dozen Enhanced with formal ties to the police," Carol sighed. "Odds are the thieves will be long gone before D.C. decides if this is an Enhanced situation or not."


March 2019

Foggy walked into his office at the September Foundation's New York Headquarters and dropped heavily into his chair. Since SHRA became law he and Matt had been on staff at the Foundation with a remit be address potential civil rights infringements for the Enhanced. They could have joined the ACLU and did stay in close contact but under Pepper and Hank Pym the September Foundation had morphed from a nonprofit created by Tony Stark to provide compensation or restoration of damages caused by the Avengers into an organization dedicated to promoting an equitable relationship between between Enhanced and Baseline individuals where the rights of both were taken into consideration. The Foundation's focus suited both Foggy and Matt and if the guys in the office next door happened to spend most of their time representing people who'd been caught in the crossfire of a superhero battle, well the reminder that the other side had it's own points didn't hurt anyone. Foggy loved his job but, as with anything, some days were better than others.

Matt sat down across from him and grabbed for the phone. "Stephen?" he asked a moment later. "Anything going on in your jurisdiction?"

"You're sure?" he pressed a few moments later.

Foggy leaned across the desk and put the call on the speaker. "Please, give him something to hit," he said.

"The latest round of filing motions against the Enhanced Draft?" Dr. Strange asked.

"Yep, it's fundamentally a bad law, it shouldn't matter that we've got idiots protesting it by blowing up national monuments," Foggy said. "But we keep running into 'won't have policy dictated by terrorists'. I swear, the Inhumans are their own worst enemy. Matt needs to blow off steam," Foggy gave Matt a stern but pointless look, "But Daredevil can't work with the police because some of them still believe Fisk's frame was real and more of them believe he employs excessive force and if Matt ever registered as Daredevil we'd be too tangled up in questions about whether or not he should be disbarred for defending cases where Daredevil had been involved as a vigilante to get anything done."

"Reaping a bit of what he sowed? Couldn't he just hit a punching bag?" Strange asked.

"I'm still here and I'm blind not deaf," Matt pointed out irritably. "After today I want to get something accomplished, is that so unreasonable?"

"Have you tried knitting?" Strange asked dryly.

"Ha, ha, ha," Matt replied. Then he sighed, "We are making some progress, minors can't be prevented from immigrating with their family regardless of Enhanced status, of course no one cares about that because there have already been three trips out with no Enhanced, the restraining order went through just after the seventh boat left and it's still another month before anyone in government has to prove that they're committed to respecting the court's decision. Who knows if they will be given the ongoing terrorist attacks."

"I still don't need you to beat anyone up today," Strange said.


April 2019

Steve's head jerked up at the muted sound of an explosion.

"What?" Sam asked as he, Scott and Frank Payne, an undercover ACTU officer who'd turned actual criminal, looked up from their dinners.

"Explosion in the main wing," Steve said. "Either someone breaking out or breaking in I'd bet."

"Should we do anything?" Scott asked.

Steve looked up to stare into the cameras observing them. "If you need help, we're here," he said. Then he turned to the remaining two rogue Avengers. "Get ready, whatever's going on, it could spill into this area. The guards might need help or we might need to defend ourselves."

"I'm heading back to my cell and shutting the door," Payne remarked. "Makes it easy for the guards to lock me in. If this ends up in some sort of riot I don't want to be involved."

"Not the worst idea I've ever heard," Scott remarked. He glanced at the others. "But maybe we should stick together?"

Steve frowned. "The other inmates are all Enhanced and they're real criminals over where the explosion occurred." Payne snorted at that but Steve ignored him. "What if the guards can't handle it?"

"Steve, without our gear, Scott and I aren't really Enhanced," Sam pointed out. "We'd be a liability if it came to a fight."

Steve was already looking around for something that he could use as a substituted for his shield. "If that's what you think then you should stay," he said.

"Hey Lang, sticking together sounds like a decent notion to me," Payne remarked. "Now that it's out there that I was law enforcement I'm not real popular around here."

"But," Steve continued, "Odds are there are people dying out there and we can help. If that door opens, if they're willing to take our help, I'll be damned before I fail to give it."

Sam and Scott looked at Steve, standing in front of the locked door staring at it as if redemption lay beyond it, holding a tabletop as a makeshift shield. They glanced at each other then moved to back him up. After a moment Payne grudgingly joined them. "Well," he sighed. "I am Enhanced and at least with you lot there's someone to watch my back. I can always hope no one opens the door." And for several minutes it seemed like Payne would get his wish.

"What's your ability?" Steve asked as they waited.

In answer Payne let a pair of metallic looking tentacles snake out from beneath his sleeves. "They were supposed to be a mechanical enhancement, part of my cover identity, but something went wrong and they fused to my nervous system. They hurt like hell and I can't take them off without cutting off the arms with 'em. Somewhere along the line my paycheck stopped seeming like adequate compensation."

"So you went over for real," Sam finished frowning.

Payne shrugged.

Then the light over the door to the wing turned from red to green. Steve threw open the door and was out it in a second. He checked the hall then waved for the others to join him. The sound of fighting drew them to the neighboring wing. They found the bodies of an inmate and three guards as they made their way to the next cell block. Sam scooped up a pair of guns as they passed the guards and offered one to Scott who shook his head. "I don't trust myself to hit the broad side of a barn," Scott said as he made his own inspection of the bodies and took a stun stick for himself. "Cap, give me a second to soup this baby up and I'll be able to lock and unlock cell doors."

"Do it," Steve ordered. "Thanks Scott, if we can recapture, this'll be easier."

The other three stood guard while Scott cracked open the stun stick made some adjustments with the pocketknife he'd found on one of the dead guards. Once he'd tested it on a nearby door they continued on toward the sounds of explosions and gunfire.

They turned a corner and saw a hulking, orangish mockery of a man leaning over a fallen guard pulling at his arm like a demented child pulling the legs off a spider. They didn't hesitate. Steve barreled into the massive Enhanced while Sam darted in to snatch the guard away. Payne's coils shot out a moment after Steve telegraphed his intentions and caught their opponent around the ankles so that he fell into a cell when Steve hit him. Scott pressed his stun stick against the cell's control and the door slammed shut.

"You good?" Steve asked as Sam leaned the guard up against a wall.

The man nodded weakly. One of his arm hung limply at his side, clearly dislocated. "They came for the Inhumans."

Steve's group recaptured several more prisoners engaged in battle against one another before they reached the heart of the battle. Six inmates and two more Inhumans in street clothes were engaged in a standoff with a platoon of guards. Steve noted that several of the inmates had suppressor collars on indicating psionic powers as suppressors were useless against physical enhancements like his own. He assumed that was why the guards were able to hold out as well as they had.

Steve was quickly drawn into battle with more physically mutated of the two Inhumans, apparently the masterminds behind the prison break. The tattooed man with the elongated skull didn't have Steve's enhanced strength or speed but he seemed to flow around Steve's attacks and when he struck it hurt. Payne used his coils to trap a goat-hooved prisoner and lift him off the ground. "Here!" Scott shouted pointing to an open cell, his shout drew the attention of Steve's opponent. The tattooed Inhuman ducked under Steve's punch and struck the super solider in the solar plexus with an open hand, knocking the air out of Steve's lungs and dropping him with apparent ease. Then he was on Scott.

A quick blow shattered Scott's arm forcing him to drop his stun stick. Sam and the prison guards opened fire on the tattooed man while Payne threw his captive at him. The tattooed man wove through the barrage and grabbed Scott by the arm.

The other Inhuman in street clothes opened his mouth and said "Time!" His voice sent all those arrayed against him flying. A second word shattered the wall of the prison and the eight Inhumans left taking Scott Lang with them.

Steve struggled to his feet a few moments later. He ran toward the hole in the wall where he'd last seen Scott and the Inhumans only to be confronted by one of the guards.

"They took Scott, we have to go after them!" Steve declared.

"Look around you!" a guard snapped. "We've got plenty of trouble right in front of us."

Steve drew himself up to his full height and gave the man disapproving look. Then he caught himself, he licked his lips and started explaining as quickly as he could. "Scott didn't escape, they took him. They specifically targeted Scott Lang, he's not Inhuman, he's a tech based hero. So why did they want him? And he was hurt."

"Look, we'll call the Avengers to go after him," the guard sighed. "I'll tell them what you told me but… Are you still helping us or are you going to escape to go after your friend yourself?"

Steve watched the guard's stance shift to one of wary preparedness. Staring into his eyes it hit Steve that this man was no different from the officers that had been killed in Bucharest and Berlin more than two and half years ago. The guard was several inches shorter than Steve with dark curly hair but his expression was determined. Steve remembered dozens of Brooklyn alleys, hundreds of fights that he knew he couldn't win but that he'd refused to run from. He remembered being the other guy, the one with nothing but his convictions and his pride to hold on to. He remember Tony throwing up his arm to shield his face, believing, correctly although it had never been Steve's intention, that Steve would kill him. Steve swallowed back bile. "I won't fight you," he said.


"Could you hurry up?" Max Bolt hissed.

Melanie turned and glared at him as her hair wriggled deeper into the lock mechanism. "Some things can't be hurried," she sniffed.

"I'm sure the police or the Avengers will be very understanding," Max replied.

"I'm in," Melanie said.

"The Pym Reduction Staves are on the second level according to my information," a dark haired girl in a knit cap said as she joined the other two. Quake used her powers to knock the security camera out alignment and the trio jogged down the hall and up the stairs. Melanie picked another lock to a storeroom stacked with boxes upon boxes of Reduction Staves. "We'll need seventy of them to shrink Afterlife."

"Seven boxes," Melanie reported after checking in one of the crates.

"We should take a few extra, just in case," Max said. Quake and Melanie both glared at him. He rolled his eyes and held up his hands in surrender. "They won't be grateful."

"We won't take more than we need," Melanie declared.


Rhodey stood in front of the Accords' committee leaning on a cane because neither he nor his muscles were used to Harley or Peter's prosthetics yet. "It is my professional opinion that the prison break and kidnapping of Scott Lang is directly related to break in at Pym Technologies.

"Brian Bolt was identified among the masterminds at the prison break. As the government has refused to meet Bolt and Amaquelin's demands it seems likely that the pair are now employing to other means to accomplish their goals. Breaking Inhuman prisoners like Amaquelin's HYDRA affiliated younger sister out of prison. Stealing the technology they failed to gain by extortion. And kidnapping a person capable of operating that tech."

"Alexei Shostakov is temporarily being transferred to bolster the West Coast Avengers while Ms. van Dyne has been benched due to her personal connection to Mr. Lang. However, Wasp will remain with the team in a technical capacity to aid in developing a means to trace the Pym Tech that was stolen.

"The East Coast Avengers team, under the leadership of Carol Danvers has been dispatched to follow up on leads relating to the prison break. They are investigating associates of the escapees as well as those of Bolt and Amaquelin's group. Files recovered from several rogue segments of S.H.I.E.L.D. indicate that the city of Lai Shi in China's Xinjian Province is an Inhuman colony and the most likely site for them to transported to New Earth. That being the case I would ask that the committee approve the Avengers entry into the sovereign territory of China to pursue this lead."

Several hours later the committee returned with their answer. "Before we can approve the Avenger's entry into China we need supporting evidence that Bolt and Amaquelin's group of Inhumans are attached to the Inhuman settlement of Lai Shi."


August 2019

Foggy and Matt paused for a moment on the steps of the courthouse. "Ready to go again?" Foggy asked.

"Always," Matt replied and they walked inside.

"...While the most recent draft of the mandatory conscription of enhanced humans addresses many of the human rights questions raised by earlier drafts it still places an undue burden for the planet's defense on one race.

"The U.S. government has encouraged its citizens to accept the Nova Empire's offer of refuge because they recognize that there is a real danger that the Earth may be lost in the coming war. They have acknowledged that the future of the human race and the preservation of our culture may lie with those who volunteer to immigrate to New Earth. But in the same breath they deny those of Inhuman descent the right to do same.

"While the court's previous ruling was that the laws denying enhanced humans the right to immigrate and forcing them into military service does not discriminate because the laws do not apply to those of Inhuman descent who have not awakened their powers. However, we contest that decision on the basis that these laws do irreparable harm to the Inhuman race and to their culture.

"The Inhuman's leadership are, by their traditions, all awakened. They are the heart and the guardians of the Inhuman culture and none of them are permitted to leave. Furthermore, almost all individuals who are aware of their Inhuman DNA learn of it because a family member's powers were awakened. For them to accept berths to New Earth under the current laws they would be forced to tear their families apart. The laws have been amended to allow Enhanced children to leave the planet with their baseline parents but what of children whose parents are Enhanced? Berths on the outgoing ships are preferentially awarded to individuals who can provide skills needed by the new colony and their families. Even if Enhanced parents were ready to send their children alone to a new world, unaccompanied minors have much lower odds of being awarded a berth."


Notes: Afterlife aside, the MCU Inhumans don't really seem to have the completely separate society that they have in the comics so I decided to make their names less codename like.

Black Bolt = Brian Bolt (destructive voice)

Medusa = Melanie Amaquelin (prehensile hair)

Karnak Mander-Azur = Kamal Megat (ability to sense weak points)

Maximus = Max Bolt (mental powers/superhuman intellect)

Crystal = Crystal Amaquelin (element control)