Washington DC, Part 1
July 12
A pro-vigilante rally was being held near the U.S. Capitol. Hundreds of superhero supporters held up signs condemning the government for their recent actions and calling for an end to the hunt for the so-called vigilantes. The group first attracted the attention of the local police, who immediately contacted the Task Force. The Task Force was a special law enforcement unit created at the onset of the Anti-Vigilante law. Its members were military soldiers and other government agents who were well trained and quite biased against vigilantes.
The Task Force squads that were dubbed "troopers" by the public attempted to break up the rally just half an hour after they started. The citizens fought to keep their places even as the troopers took out their riot gear. When the squad started to fire their guns to the sky to scare the people away, a few superheroes appeared to help the citizens get away safely from the scene.
About 10 minutes away from where the rally was being held, Warren and his wife Mia sat outside by a café. They had just finished a meeting with UN agents who needed to report to international communities concerned with the situation in the U.S. The meeting occurred in a secure place to protect both parties, and at the end, the UN agents boarded a private jet to leave the country untraced.
Mia's phone rang and Warren looked around the patio, "Hello?" she answered, nodding at Warren, who knew instantly that something bad had happened. The two got up and promptly left the café. "We're a few blocks away. Sure. Thanks Maj."
Mia turned to Warren and slipped her arm through his' casually. She informed him quietly, "That pro-V rally at the National Mall just turned ugly. Maj noticed the dispatch from the local police station and saw that the Task Force troopers were called in as well."
"Johnson's going to enforce Marshall Law at this rate," Warren thought out loud while the two walked briskly towards the rally. More and more citizen rallies have appeared in the past few weeks, and they were a cause for concern for the president. The resistance knew that it was only a matter of time before he chose to exercise strict control of the country.
Suddenly, they heard sirens approaching their street. Warren quickly took hold of Mia's hand and walked at a much slower pace to avoid suspicion. As far as anyone on the street might deduce, they were just a couple out for a morning stroll.
"Looks like the riot police," Mia noted with her eyes narrowed at the police cars and black armoured SUVs that quickly passed by.
The two were about a block away from the park when they heard gunshots fired nearby. Seconds after, a bomb exploded in a firehouse about twenty meters from where Warren and Mia were. The force of the blast sent flying glass and concrete in the near vicinity, and screams littered the area as people scrambled to get away. On instinct, Warren held Mia close to him to protect her from the flying debris. They got up moments after the blast and rushed to a side alley to change into their costumes.
Flare and Lady Force ran down the street to help the people injured by the blast. Flare extinguished the remaining flames in the firehouse, while Lady Force extracted people pinned on the street by pieces of debris. Both searched inside the firehouse but found it empty. They soon heard the sirens of ambulances closing in.
"We have to go, they'll arrest us if we stay," Flare placed a hand on Lady Force's shoulder and she stood up after making sure the woman she was helping was alright.
"Ok, we have to get to that rally," she ran alongside Flare. "This bomb was planned, there was no one inside so it's either a warning or a distraction."
"I see someone on the air, it seems like the local team," Flare noted as the park came within their line of vision. They saw three superheroes in the middle of the park with the citizens.
"Look out!" Flare exclaimed as a trooper opened fire at the two. Lady Force instantly made a force field around them as they ran forward. With a swift drop kick by Flare, the trooper was knocked out.
The two were separated while they protected the citizens from the surprisingly violent troopers. In previous situations, the troopers had used tranquilizing weapons to capture any superheroes or villains. Now however, it was evident that they were using only live ammunition. They attacked the superheroes around them with lethal force and used excessive means to get the citizens out of the way.
Lady Force ushered two limping people out of the park with a force field around them. When they reached the park's boundaries, she left them with a few paramedics who quickly worked on their injuries. As she judged the friendly and sincere way the paramedics looked at her, she knew that she wouldn't have to worry about them calling the troopers.
Flare, meanwhile, helped a fellow super who took a bullet to the leg. He half-carried him away from the oncoming line of troopers from the north side. Flames appeared before that squad, so they quickly equipped themselves with water hoses and fire extinguishers to get through.
The three superheroes who came to the park before Flare and Lady Force were younger IAS members. They assembled behind the defensive line of fire and all looked worse for wear.
"You all have to get out of here," Flare commanded. "Most of the citizens have been taken care of."
The superhero called Day Hawk, who was shot in the leg, held out his portable teleporter, "OK, let's go then, are you coming Flare? And what about the boss?" he looked towards Lady Force, who was their national operations director at the IAS.
Flare shook his head, "Go and stay hidden for now, they've seen your faces, so they'll be on the hunt," Flare looked around warily. "LF and I will leave after you."
"The Task Force captured two supervillains when we got here, I'm not sure but one of them looked like he was gone," Day Hawk informed him and Flare's face darkened.
"I'll have it checked later, go now, all of you."
Flare watched the three heroes disappear, and then turned to help a few more citizens who were rushing out of the park. The defensive line of fire was slowly being extinguished by the Task Force. As heavy smoke filled the air, Flare heard the gunshots resume. A number of troopers made their way towards him and he managed to melt their weapons by overheating the guns' internal power charges. They threw the useless weapons aside and surrounded him. Arms ablaze, he took a defensive stance as the troopers attacked.
Lady Force ran towards the area covered with heavy smoke and disarmed troopers she met on the way. She soon saw Flare in physical combat with three troopers and ran towards him. All citizens were finally out of the area and that meant the two supers had to get out of there quickly.
As soon as she saw the remaining troopers with Flare drop, she yelled out, "Flare! Time to go!"
Flare wiped the blood off the side of his mouth and quickly ran towards Lady Force. Just before the two reached each other, another bomb blast from nearby blew them off their feet. The two landed harshly on the grass a few feet away. There was no time to stay put however, since two troopers approached them rapidly. Flare rushed to Lady Force and helped her up before he threw a fireball at their attackers.
The fireball, to their surprise, disappeared in midair and never quite reached the target. Flare tried to throw another fireball, but none appeared in his hands. Lady Force looked at him in horror as she too tried to produce an energy disk, to no avail. They soon felt it- the energy in their bodies reserved for superpowers quickly disappeared. They were neutralized.
The two attackers neared them, and the heroes stepped up for physical combat. The troopers were soon disarmed and knocked out.
"We won't be able to fight off those bullets, it's time to change," Lady Force said to her partner when they noticed more troopers with weapons at hand head their way.
The two quickly ran towards the cover of trees at the east side. The smoke around the central part of the park remained, which greatly aided them in their escape.
TBC