Ashes and Whispers
"…Over 3000 have been reported dead…"
"…both Iron Man and Captain America have been unable to take questions regarding the situation…"
"…Mass protests have taken place in front of the White house with many calling for justice after the…"
"…the Mayor of Chicago has been hospitalized in a comatose state for more than 2 days with no signs of improvement…"
"…the president and his staff have not yet commented upon the situation of meta-humans and their presence within law, though the public has…"
"…the Avenger known as Brimstone nor the other red eyed Meta-human have not been seen since the destruction of the city…"
The television screen switched from channel to channel, every one of which had some kind of news report on the events that had taken place 2 days ago in Chicago. The holder of the remote only stared at the screen and flinched at slight bit every second the reporters mentioned the horrible events. The holder of said remote was Bobbi Morse, Mockingbird, and behind her stood the rest of the team, even Natasha and Clint whom had recovered were back on duty, though no one was wearing a mask, meaning their depressed and defeated expressions could be seen in their entirety.
"I can't believe things could get this screwed up" Bobbi said in disbelief as she paused on a picture of what looked like Viktor clashing fists with Cyrus. The picture was blurry and out of focus, yet the Shield Avengers could still tell that it was their red eyed teammate, despite his very demonic looking appearance.
"Me neither Bobbi, but like it or not we couldn't have helped even if we were there" Clint said
"Clint's right, all we can do right now is try our best to help clean everything up" Natasha replied with a low tone in her voice. Even though she had seen some horrible things in her time, she was still a bit shaken up that one of her teammates could or would do something like this, especially Viktor.
"I just can't believe that Viktor was capable of this" Bobbi sighed
"It wasn't his fault, if Viktor didn't do what he did, Cyrus would have done much worse" Peter said in defence of his best friend. Laura was about to leap to his defence but Peter beat her to the punchline, Laura could tell that Peter genuinely cared about his friend enough to speak out like that, but then again that was what made Peter, Peter.
"Parker, whether he meant it or not, he still did it, you can't justify the deaths of 3000 innocent people" Ross said with a very persecuting tone.
"Funny, while he was there saving our lives you didn't show up until after the explosion" Peter said in a very challenging tone.
"What was that Parker? I didn't quite hear you" Ross replied in an offended tone.
"I think you heard me just fine Ross, or maybe it's just old age is finally getting to you" Peter stood up and locked eyes with the General, the tension in the room suddenly got very thick as Ross stood up from his seat and walked over to Peter in a very intimidating manner. But before the general got close enough to Peter, Carol stood up and gave him a glare that said 'don't you dare' standing in between the two.
"Ok guys settle down" Steve said standing up as well. Ross huffed and went back to his seat while Carol and Peter sat back down next to each other.
"I get it ok, I really do. I get the fact that we all feel like shit, but we can't afford to fall apart, things are bad enough as it is without us all going at each other's throats, got it?" Steve announced with authority in his tone.
Everyone understood exactly what Steve was getting at, with tensions this high the world had suddenly become a powder keg where the slightest spark could cause everything to go up in flames.
Laura couldn't help but feel utterly helpless right now, Viktor was below them right now in the med-bay as Reed and McCoy administered as much care as they could, Yellowjacket wasn't exactly in any position to administer care as he was recovering himself. If anyone could help him it was those two as they knew the most about Viktor's biology. Laura never knew that simply waiting would hurt so much, not knowing if Viktor would be ok or not and the people protesting outside were defiantly not helping her mood.
She only sat there with her hands clutched against each other, simply gazing into empty space as she waited, trying to get through the hours. Some of the others like Jessica, Logan, Carol and Peter could tell that she was going through absolute hell right now, simply not knowing what condition her boyfriend was in while people amassed outside calling for his head on a platter. Logan would have thought that she was ready to go out front and start gutting people, but that was the old Laura, right now all that was on her mind was if Viktor was alright.
The door to the downstairs med bay then opened and out stepped Mr Fantastic and Beast, both of which had taken off their glasses and lab coats and looked like they had finished a conversation. Laura instantly perked up and rushed to the two scientists, asking "Is he alright?"
"Well, he's stable for now, but we would advise against him getting out of bed until he is able to move his limbs around without feeling any pain" Hank explained as an easy pace.
"Is he conscious?" Laura asked quickly
"He's asleep right now and I advise that you guys let him sleep because he needs it after what happened" Reed said putting his glasses away.
"What was the damage exactly?" Carol asked
"To put it simply, the man has an angel watching over him. Because after the damage he took, he should be dead" Reed explained. Laura's facial expression immediately went into one of absolute shock, Viktor didn't look close to death when she found him, was he really in that bad of a shape?
"Care to elaborate on that Reed?" Peter asked, he could tell that Laura needed more concrete answers as did everyone else.
"Ok you guys may want to sit down" the blue furred mutant advised the others. Once they were all sat and listening to the two scientists as they explained their comrade's condition.
"Viktor suffered injuries that would probably put any normal human or low to medium powered meta-human out of action for good. From the X-rays that Shield gave to us when their medics treated him, we found that the muscle tissue in his arms and legs looked like they had been through a paper shredder" Hank explained only serving to make Laura's expression get more dire, Logan put his arm around her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"The same X-Ray also showed that 3 of his ribs, his entire left arm and parts of his legs had the bones reduced to gravel. But another X-Ray taken an hour later showed that both his skeletal structure and his muscle tissue healed to the point of only a few factures and torn tissue strands" Reed explained making Laura seem much more relieved than before.
"Well that's a relief, how long before he's up and running again?" Tony asked
"At the rate he has been healing, it'll probably be 2 or 3 days before he is able to perform at peak efficiency. Because of the drugs we have him on, it will take a few hours before wakes up and when that happens he also won't be able to move so makes sure he gets his rest" Hank further explained to the other Avengers.
"Well thanks guys, you've been a great help" Tony thanked both the scientists as they stood up from their seats.
"Actually Tony I was hoping that I might be able to stay, I don't feel comfortable leaving Viktor or any patient for that matter in this kind of condition without being nearby. I hope you don't mind if I monitor his condition and perhaps run a few tests" the blue furred Mutant asked
"Hank, you don't even need to ask buddy" Peter smiled, glad that Hank would be nearby if help was needed.
"I on the other hand have some important FF business to attend to, but if you guys need me just call alright?" Reed asked as he shook Tony's hand.
"Oh and Hank, could you save me a few Blood and tissue samples?" Reed asked, but as he finished he received a death glare from Laura. Reed then noticed that asking for samples from Viktor in front of his very aggressive girlfriend was probably not the best idea he had.
"F-for scientific purposes of course" Reed said before he made his way to the door. He may have been the leader of the fantastic four, but even he didn't like the look that Laura was giving him, he very much doubted that Rubber biology would do much against Adamantium claws.
"Oh wait Reed!" Tony said as he quickly stopped Reed from exiting the front door, he put his hand on the man's shoulder and said "I think you had better take the back door" before leading him away from the front entrance which was swarmed with protesters.
Laura looked much calmer than she did before once Reed left the room, she still wasn't back to 100% but hell it was a start. Beast approached her and put a clawed hand on her shoulder softly before asking "Would you like to see him?" Laura simply tilted her head and asked "But I thought you said he needed rest" Beast simply smirked and said softly "Yeah, but I think he would sleep more soundly with someone he loved beside him" Laura smiled and nodded.
As Beast led Laura and Viktor's closest friends down into the Med-bay, Logan put a hand on Beast's shoulder and said "Sleep more soundly huh?" Beast only replied "I think the both of them could use it"
*Shield Helicarrier
Deep in the heart of the Shield Helicarrier, Nick Fury was having a hard time himself as he was in the conference room in what could be called a conversation with the World Security Council. Though the term 'conversation' would imply that the Councillors were listening to what the Director of Shield was saying, that being said, it was understandable as they were simply furious about the situation confronting them.
"Do you understand what hell this has caused Fury!? Over 3000 dead in a blast that was caused by a Meta-human, an Avenger no less!" shouted the American councilman
"I understand that Councillor, but I can assure you that…" Fury began but was interrupted by the English councilwoman
"Assure us? What happened when you assured us that you wouldn't let this situation get out of hand? From where we are standing it looks as if you aren't in any position to be making promises!" she shouted in a furious tone.
"What did you want me to do? Run down into the middle of the fray myself and politely ask Brimstone and Cyrus to settle down?" Fury shouted back at the council members on screen in front of him.
"We did not want something of this scale to happen Fury, you promised us that you would keep things quite until the American public had simmered down, now they are ready to start hanging meta-humans on the streets" the French councilman said with a tone of annoyance that matched that of the others.
"It won't come to that Councillor, you know that I have held the world's safety and the safety of its people above everything else since I became part of this organisation" Fury retorted with a firm tone.
"That's all well and fine Director, but that won't stop the American government from doing something incredibly stupid now will it?" the English councilwoman replied
"You had better do something about this situation and fast Fury, because with the way things are going, it won't be long until the American's pass a law that could end up starting a war" the French Councilman said with a firm tone
"You had better resolve this mess and fast Fury, otherwise it's your resignation!" the American Councilman grunted as his screen blackened along with all the other councillors' monitor screens, leaving Nick Fury standing in the middle of an empty room.
Fury left the conference room and soon made his way onto the bridge of the Helicarrier. All round him Shield Agents were going about their business like usual, no one would believe from the look of things that Shield was in a state of panic due to what had happened to Chicago.
Not only where the Avengers being watched 24/7 in order to make sure nothing else worsened their situation, but the Meta-Human known as Cyrus had also made it to the top 5 of Shield's Supervillan threat list. This by no means was easy as he was now considered in the same league with cosmic level threats.
This was Not very surprising as he had caused all this damage in under 2 weeks. Draining a Stark Power Plant and Killing the security, the deaths of countless Shield Agents, freeing a known Supervillan from the Raft, viscously Mutilating the Wrecking crew, Killing Crimson Dynamo, defeating some of strongest Meta-humans on the planet and finally causing the deaths of over 3000 innocent civilians, Cyrus sure kept himself busy.
"Sir, how did it go?" Hill asked her commanding officer
"How do you think Hill?"
"That bad, huh?"
"Well, the council only threatened to take away my rank as Director if I didn't solve our current situation" Fury said with his hand behind his back in a calm posture. Hill simply couldn't believe how the hell Fury could keep such a calm face on after talking to a bunch of bureaucrats who would talk down to him like shit.
"One thing I know for sure, Hill. We have to do everything in our power to make sure that this situation doesn't get any worse, first step in that is to make sure that the US government doesn't pass that Registration bill he have been talking about" Fury sighed.
"Uh sir, I don't think that will solve much. To be honest I think the idea of a registration bill to be just what we need right now" Hill replied, making Fury arch his eyebrow.
"Care to elaborate Hill?"
"Well, Sir, what happened in Chicago is just proof of how devastating Meta-humans can be when left unchecked. Then there is the fact that it would be much safer for the general public if the Meta-human community went under training so they can actually use their powers without causing disasters like Chicago" Hill explained as rationally as she could.
"Very sound Theory Hill, except one thing" Fury said in a calm tone that surprised her.
"And what is that sir?"
"Brimstone is over 900 years old; I very much doubt that any kind of modern day military training would have changed what had happened in Chicago. This Act may work short term, but long term it will only provoke this countries enemies and even it's allies into doing the same thing, and before you know it there will be a war that makes both world wars look like a schoolyard brawl" Fury said with a firm tone.
"But sir…" Hill began until Fury interrupted her
"Hill, you made an oath when you joined Shield didn't you?" Fury asked
"Yes Sir, I did"
"And do you remember the words?" Fury asked
"Of course Sir I…"
"To serve when everything else fails, to be humanity's last line of defense, to be the shield, do you remember that?" Fury asked more intense in his stare this time.
"Of course sir…I-I…"
"You swore that oath to protect the world….not the United States alone, you swore that you would protect humanity…all of humanity, including Meta-humans and Mutants, not just the human inhabitants of a single nation Understand?" Fury asked again
"Yes sir, I understand" Hill answered quickly before Fury replied.
"This Law only protects the US, and only humans for that matter. Remember that, Shield does not act in the US's immediate interests, we make sure that the world remains safe and this Law only jeopardizes that, understood?" Fury said with a clear and firm tone.
"But Colonel…"
"Understood Commander?" Fury said, reminding Hill of her lower rank.
"…Yes sir" Hill nodded. Hill honestly did respect Fury's higher rank and did look up to him as a leader, but at times it really annoyed her when he would dismiss anyone else's opinion s if his way was always the correct one. Even though Fury may have been right in his assumptions, Hill still believed that a registration act would be a great idea, sure there was a chance that it would heighten tensions around the world, but if it worked it could pave the way for the rest of the world and turn out to be the greatest thing to happen to the people of the world for a long time.
Then again, time would tell which one of them was right on the subject.
"Now, any word from Coulson and his team?" Fury asked as he began to walk, hands behind his back.
"Not yet Sir, last I heard they were checking out a case involving some blood sucking creature down in Mexico that seems to be causing some trouble" Hill replied, reading off her pad.
"Well send out word for him to report back to me once he has finished his mission, I have a feeling that we will all need to stay alert from now on" Fury said
"Alert sir? If you ask me the danger has passed"
"I don't think so Hill…I just have a feeling that the worst is yet to come" Fury said before walking down the bridge to the tip.
"Let's just hope to god that I'm wrong"
*Avengers Mansion, Med Bay
Deep within the heart of the mansion, two Avengers were silently resting besides each other. One a black haired Mutant whom was fast asleep sitting in a chair with her head resting upon the bed of her companion, a Black Haired Meta-human whom was in a much deeper sleep, many of his limbs bandaged to cover his healing wounds. The two black haired Avengers were in a very deep sleep, but subconsciously Laura had wrapped her hand around Viktor's. watching over the two of them was the abnormally large black Crow known as Callus, perched on the top of Viktor's IV. Hank had already informed the others that Callus had emerged from Viktor's body when the Shield Medics were examining him.
Meanwhile on the other side of the double sided Glass, Peter, Carol and Logan were watching the others with Beast whom was in the midst of studying samples of Viktor's blood under a microscope. Even after 2 years of research on the man, Hank was still amazed by the findings of what Viktor's biology could do.
"I never thought I could see her act this way, it was like yesterday when she was threatening to cut my throat if I didn't shut up" Peter said, Carol then put a hand on his shoulder and said "Baby, that was yesterday" Peter simply smirked and replied "Oh yeah" he smirked making Carol snicker, she really had gotten weak to his sense of humour over the years.
"Then again, it is old Red eyes there that has been spending time with her" Logan said with his arms crossed as he stared at the two. The sight of the two gave him flashbacks to whenever he found himself someone to settle down with, funny how sometimes Viktor would remind him of himself.
"Yes, Viktor seems to have made a large impact on all of us as it seems, though some better than others" Hank said as he sat up from the microscope. The impact of which he referred to was that in Chicago, which compared to the other changes Viktor had influenced was not essentially the best.
"Yeah about that, I was actually hoping you and Reed may have found out how Vik managed to do that? Not to mention how the hell he ended up in this shape in the first place" Peter asked. He could guess how Viktor got stronger when he joined with Callus as the two must have shared an energy bond that got stronger when they fused, but what the hell happened to Viktor when he turned into that magma drooling berserker was beyond what he could understand, while in that form he made Hulk in a rage seem downright lovable.
"Well, I'm afraid Reed and I weren't able to find out much about how Viktor became that strong, but I do have a theory and that is that Viktor somehow turned off the Physical limiter in his brain" Hank replied to Peter's question.
"His…His what?" Carol asked
"There is a thing inside the brains of all living creatures called a Physical limiter, what it does is that it restricts all your actions so you don't unintentionally damage your body, like if Tony was to punch Carol bare fisted he would defiantly hurt his hand, but the Physical limiter in his brain would stop him from destroying his entire arm. Somehow Viktor must have subconsciously turned his off, which explains his shattered bones and torn muscles, though if a humans physical limiter was turned off they would be able to perform amazing feats of strength, I think we all saw what happened when Viktor's was turned off" Hank explained
"Well, that's good to know" Carol said with an impressed tone.
"Even though he may be able to fight stronger opponents like that, I would strongly advise that you tell him to never go into that state again" Beast said with the upmost seriousness.
"Why? If you ask me that sounds pretty dam useful the next time Galactus or Thanos tries to mess with us" Pete asked
"If he goes into that state again, there is no telling what damage he could do to both the area he is in and the people around him. He might mistake everyone around him for an enemy, then there is the fact that the next time…might kill him" Beast said taking off his glasses.
"Ok…berserker mode, bad thing, got it" Peter said with a thumbs up. Peter usually used his humour to defuse the tension during bad times and right now was no exception. Not only was his best friend unconscious, but if he used that power again he wouldn't be as lucky as today. Truth be told Peter was downright worried with every part of his being for all his friends, Carol and Viktor most of all. Ever since the incident in Chicago, Carol had been acting not like herself, she seemed much less confident and much more withdrawn.
He would need to have a talk with her later on when they were alone. She felt much more comfortable talking about their problems when the two of them were alone and not under the judgement of anyone watching.
"Did you guys gather any ideas on Cyrus? You know like what the hell he is?" Logan asked
"Well Logan that's better said than done, while Reed and I studied Viktor's blood we both found that if it isn't kept in the proper conditions it quickly evaporates into the atmosphere, because of this we weren't able to harvest any of Cyrus' blood from the scene" Hank said with a disappointed tone. The chance to analyse some of the blood from someone like Cyrus would have been extremely interesting as it seemed that he and Viktor were probably the same species, Hank could only imagine the other properties someone like Cyrus would have biologically.
"Ok Hank, by the look on your face I can tell you where looking forward to dissecting the guy" Logan smirked
"Oh Please Logan, I have no ideas on what would happen to a member of Viktor's species when they died, if their blood evaporates at an accelerated rate I can only imagine what happens to the rest of them" Hank responded making the others look at him awkwardly.
"From…a scientific standpoint" Hank said
"Oooooookaaaaaay, but wait…didn't you just say species? I thought last time you checked him you said Viktor had fragments of upgraded human DNA" Peter asked
"It would seem like that would be the case, but as there seem to be two glowing red eyed, thermal powered, 7 foot incredibly strong meta-humans walking around who seem to both be able to go into a berserker state, I am willing to believe that both Cyrus and Viktor aren't meta-human anomalies but part of another species" Hank explained
"I wouldn't mention that to him right away" Carol said looking at the unconscious Viktor.
"Agreed, the guy's got enough on his plate as it is" Logan agreed as the three Avengers stood there looking at Viktor and Laura through the double sided glass.
Speaking of which the Red eyed Meta-human was beginning to stir and movement was shown behind his closed eye lids. Viktor's eye lids slowly opened and the light that his eyes gave off flared the slightest bit before dimming as his eyes fully opened.
Viktor's sight was blurry at first, but as he regained consciousness he looked around to see his surroundings to be that of the med bay. He tried to move but found that he couldn't move a muscle below his neck.
"I wouldn't move if I were you" said a voice identical to his from the right. Viktor moved his head to see Callus perched on top of the IV that seemed to be connected to his right arm.
"Really? Well it's good to see you too Featherbrain" Viktor said, his voice sounded a lot more coarse and rough than he remembered, how long was he out?
"Good News you aren't paralyzed, Richards and McCoy just gave you some drugs to help with the pain, though the drugs also make it so you can't feel anything below the neck" Callus cawed
"Well that's just dandy isn't it?" Viktor sighed
"Quite, by the way can you feel that?"
"Feel what?"
"Your left hand"
Viktor quickly turned his head to the left and saw Laura sleeping soundly with her hand wrapped around his. Viktor couldn't help but smile as he saw her face, he had never seen Laura sleep before, sure he had seen her in a Med bay bed like he was now, but he never saw her look so…peaceful.
"You know bud…I never felt the urge to brush a woman's hair out of her face so much, why the hell did I have to be paralyzed?" Viktor grinned as he looked at his girlfriend's beautiful face. Viktor had romanced Princesses and Noblewomen, daughters of emperors and Chieftains in his life, but none of them could hold a candle to the mutant beauty beside him right now.
"You really need to get out more" Callus cawed in a joking tone
"I get out too much…that's my problem" Viktor grinned as he looked down on Laura's beautiful features as her eyes seemed to flicker open.
"Good morning sleeping beauty" Viktor smiled
"You could have thought of something more original" Laura yawned
"Im 950, give me a break would you?" Viktor smiled back
"How are you feeling?" Laura asked with a smile
"Been better" Viktor replied hoarsely
"Sounded better too, though the gruff voice makes you sound like Clint Eastwood" Laura smiled
"Oh really? so I'm like Dirty Harry? thanks for the compliment"
"Or Batman" Laura snickered
"Hey...I'm not wearing Hockey Pads" Viktor smirked as Laura giggled in reply, leaning up and kissing Viktor on the cheek.
The sound of a door opening then rang through the room and both Viktor and Laura looked towards the entrance to the room and met eyes with some friendly faces.
"Welcome back to the land of the living buddy" Peter smiled as he approached Viktor with Carol and Logan behind him.
"Good to see you alive too Webhead" Viktor replied hoarsely
"Whoa, you don't sound too good Vik, are you ok?" Carol asked as the three of them pulled up seats beside him.
"A bit of a sore throat, that and the fact that I can't move is a little off putting" Viktor replied
"Well you could have ended up in a worse condition all things considered" Hank said as he entered the room.
"Hey Hank, I would shake your hand but…" Viktor smiled
"I know, the drugs may be a bit much but the pain you would be going through would probably be too much to bear" Hank replied as he sat down.
"You don't know the stuff I have been through Hank" Viktor replied with a straight face.
"Well, I doubt you have been at the heart of a miniature supernova before" Hank said. Viktor's eyes widened and replied "I-I'm sorry but…what?"
"Reed, Bill Foster and I reviewed the footage of the event and we came to the conclusion that the thermal energy collision that both you and Cyrus created resulted in the creation of a miniature supernova" Hank explained
"Uuuuh, Hank, doesn't supernova mean that we should have been killed?" Peter asked
"That would have been the case except that you and Cyrus took the full force of the blast and seemed to absorb the majority of the energy it gave off, yet another reason that you are dam lucky to be alive" Hank said
"I did what?" Viktor asked, pure shock on his face, he knew he was powerful even among other Meta-humans, but he never thought he could do something of that scale.
"Im sorry Vik but do you remember what you did?" Carol asked
"Not really, my memory is a bit fuzzy" the Red eyed Meta-human replied
"Viktor, what was the last thing you remembered?" Hank asked
"I…I remember fighting Cyrus. My god he was strong, I never fought someone like him before and he could have taken my head off if I made a single wrong move, I remember getting angry over something…really angry…"
"Genosha angry?" Laura asked
"Angrier, just pure unadulterated rage…frustration…hate…just pure seething hatred and then…nothing, everything went black and then I woke up here" Viktor said looking to the others and their somewhat worried expressions.
"What? What's with the faces?" Viktor asked
"Uh Viktor, you may not like what we're going to say" Peter said putting a hand on Viktor's shoulder
"What happened Pete?" Viktor asked a little louder this time
"Viktor, I understand that you may be feeling a little volatile right now, but you have to…" Hank began until Viktor interrupted
"What happened?" Viktor asked yet again this time a bit more forceful as his eyes began to glow brighter
"Ok Vik, you gotta calm down alright, if you don't then…" Logan began until Viktor did something that made everyone in the room stare at him in complete and utter shock.
Viktor had reached out and grabbed Logan's arm.
"T-That's impossible, you shouldn't be able to…" Beast began, utterly flabbergasted, those drugs were enough to keep a hundred elephants paralyzed, yet Viktor had just managed to move his arm under seemingly pure willpower.
"…What…Happened?" Viktor growled as his eyes burned brightly, the look inside Viktor's eyes was that of desperation and pure determination and the only thing going through Logan's mind wasn't his iron grip, but that of the look in Viktor's eyes, the one saying "do not keep secrets from me" and Logan knew that look well.
"Viktor, please calm down" Laura asked softly putting a hand on Viktor's shoulder.
"Ok Vik, we'll tell you…but you won't like it" Peter said as he put his hand on Viktor's arm, feeling the dense thick muscle of his forearm. Viktor slowly released his grip and let Logan's arm go.
"What happened?" Viktor asked as the others paused.
This news was going to hit hard.
*Washington DC
"I for one aren't very comfortable with the idea of Superhumans being turned into weapons, it could start a war if another country doesn't agree with it" one congressman with a southern accent said as he stood up amongst all the other congressmen gathered in the room.
Ever since the incident in Chicago the US government was in an uproar, with people protesting right outside the White house and riots taking place in the southern states it was imperative that something was done to solve the problem, it was precisely for that reason why a meeting of congress had been arranged between the houses of Representatives and senate.
"If we don't do something to quell the masses then we'll be looking at things much worse than riots and then we'll be…" another Congressman with a Californian accent said before he was swiftly interrupted.
"Do you honestly thing that the weaponization of American citizens is the answer to a tragedy? I'm getting the feeling you don't comprehend the power that some of these Meta-humans have at their disposal" another Congressman, this time from San Francisco said.
"You have got to be kidding me! After what happened in Chicago? I don't think anyone can say for sure what these people are capable of, they have to be kept in line or the damage may get even greater!" another Congressman shouted as the entire house went into an uproar, men standing up and yelling across the room, even congressmen from different states began arguing with each other, it was like the place had turned into a zoo full of wild animals.
"ORDER! ORDER! ORDER IN THE HOUSE!" the speaker of the house shouted making the men quite down at least enough to make his voice heard. The speaker was an aged man, at least in his 60's, probably having spent the majority of his life in US politics.
"In all my years I have never seen such a disgraceful sight! Here you are the voices of your states and your acting like children, Bickering and arguing like infants! If you really think that acting like this will solve anything that you are sorely mistake…" the Speaker of the house stopped in his tracks as did all the other men present as they heard the sounds of the doors opening, stood there at the entrance was the newly elected President Harold Jones himself.
"Oh…Im sorry was I interrupting something?" Jones asked with an embarrassed tone as he entered the room. At his sides were two men in black suits, most likely bodyguards, though one was carrying a briefcase in his right hand.
"Mr President…You are half an hour late" the speaker announced in a loud voice.
"Yeah well, new job and all I hope you can understand it's a bit confusing, wow this place is much bigger than I thought, I hope you guys kept my seat for me" Jones smiled as he walked down the aisle to the front of the room.
"Be that as it may, it doesn't allow you to act as if these meetings don't matter" the speaker continued
"Geez, I feel like I'm in second grade again" Jones continued as he found his seat and made himself comfortable.
"How did you ever get elected?"
"I can't believe you have the balls to act like this, 3000 people are dead and you are acting like everything is fine and dandy!"
"Do you want to know the reason I was elected? The people elected me because they knew that in a time of squabbling bureaucrats and ineffectual politicians, that someone like me was needed to make sure that their problems were answered, and that's exactly what I intend to do" The President replied in the loud and clear voice of a leader
"You squabble, you talk and you argue but you never think to get off your asses and solve this countries problem, even though the solution is staring you in the face" Jones continued
"What solution would that be?" one congressman asked
"I would have thought that would have been obvious, the Super Human Registration Act, or the SHRA for short, this act has been sitting in your laps for years and yet you haven't made the decision yet" he continued
"Mr President, with all due respect, the Meta-Humans have powers that we can't even begin to understand, if one of them disagreed with this act all they would have to do is fly over here and they could do whatever they wanted"
"I'm so glad you brought that up sir, because I actually have a solution to that as well. Jackson if you would please?" The President asked the suited man carrying the briefcase. The suited man opened the briefcase and handed the President a sheet of paper full of text and logos.
"Gentlemen, the world has Shield and Sword…I give you the next step" The President smiled as he handed the sheet to the Speaker of the house whom took the paper and closely studied it.
"The Federal Logistic Agency of Metahuman Emergencies?" the Speaker asked
"F.L.A.M.E for short, I assure you gentlemen this agency is the solution to all of our problems" Jones spoke proudly.
"This agency will be the enforcers to the SHRA and will also act as the American people's light in these dark times" Jones smiled proudly.
"Mr President, this is extremely unorthodox, even by today's standards. What makes you think you are in any position to be giving us orders and suggestions such as this?" the Speaker asked
"I think that Unorthodox is exactly what we need right now sir. This country has managed to land itself in an extremely poor state, with our country in millions of dollars' worth of debt, Chicago is in ashes, the Meta-Human situation is only worsening and our own citizens are protesting right outside and rioting in other parts of our country. It's because of your orthodox and old stale way of thinking that we are in this mess to begin with, it's not being able to adapt to these situations that lands this nation in the state it is in now. Now is the time for action, we must make the right choice not only for our sakes, but for the sakes of every man, woman and child in this great nation" Jones announced, standing up and holding his head up high. The percentage of the room that agreed with him had their faith strengthened while the others whom didn't agree with him to begin with now found their opinions of their commander and chief slowly changing.
"I say that today isn't the day where we fail our country, I say that today is the day where the American People and their faith in their government will be rewarded with a law and a force that will protect them and their families from the threat we are faced with. Today is the day that we prove that the United States of America prevails in the face of an unknown and unimaginable threat, and that we shall never fail our people ever again!" Jones announced in a loud tone and almost like clockwork the Congressmen in the room all rose from their seats and the room was filled with a roar of applause and clapping. The Congressmen, moved by their President's words applauded him with thunderous clapping and hailing him like a hero.
President Jones smiled widely and held out both his arms making the peace sign with both hands, he then turned to the Speaker who was amazed at the show that the President had just made, when he entered the room he was being glared and stared at like a criminal, but now the same men were eating out of his hand, cheering like children who had met their icons. Jones simply grinned widely at the Speaker and said in a smug voice.
"Be sure to send to send the Bill to my Office between 10 and 11, Sir"
Ok first things first, as a lot of you know I'm English so I'm not that well versed in how American Politics goes and I hope you can forgive me for any mistakes I made when writing that final scene. I also don't know any American politicians so I hope you understand why I left the names blank. I would also like to thank Patrickthenobleman for providing information on how Congress works (thanks man, I appreciate the help)
Now as always tell me what you guys thought, any and all criticism is welcomed as long as you are civil about it, if there is anything you guys want to see next chapter let me know.
Now for my speciality:
WHO DO YOU THINK ARE THE 5 STRONGEST AVENGERS? (IN THIS STORY OR OTHERWISE)
This is Dakkaman777 saying I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, more on the way.