(I'm so sorry for the really late update, everyone…as you know…college kept me swamped with work and I didn't get to work on my stories…at all…it was really disheartening…and I apologize that these waits between chapters are really damn long…I hope this makes up partially for the wait.)
Noble Six: Thanks.
Gemm1mt: Thanks.
Chapter 21: The Broadcast
(Washington D.C., the Oval Office, the next day)
A fist slams down on a desk. President Gyrich seethes with fury, eyes livid. Those gathered before him shift or shake in fear, anxiety, uncertainty, etc. Maria Hill stood unfazed, arms crossed.
"How could this have happened?! The Legion Sentinels were the blend of the best of Stark's tech and Trask's tech?! They were made for fighting! How could they have been destroyed so easily?!" President Gyrich bellowed.
"W-Well…s-sir…it seems…the subject…tricked the machines' sensors…masking his identity as a nonhuman being…." One man said.
"How? Those machines were made of the latest technology!" President Gyrich grunted, unconvinced.
"Agents who were witness to the event believe that a mystic element was involved." Another man said.
"Magic? Doctor Strange was difficult to bring down. Other supernatural beings varied in their power levels." President Gyrich grunted to himself, rubbing his chin.
"Sir, we've got reports of more of the cold-" Another man started to say.
"Whoever is behind those attacks is doing it in random and seemingly far spread spots while being out of sight of the public. This 'phantom' or whatever attacked in plain view of the public! Whoever they are, they've damned the registration and have vowed to bring us down." President Gyrich interjected.
"I-I know, sir…but the latest attack was more sever since the incident in New York City." The same man replied.
"Keep the same agents working on the case." President Gyrich said.
"Sir, not to tell what to do and what not to do…but isn't ordering S.H.I.E.L.D. agent my job?" Maria Hill said, her voce calm and composed.
"Apologies, Ms. Hill, I'm just unamused with what happened." President Gyrich replied.
"My agents tell me that the individual used the cover of the blizzard to their advantage with seemingly no fatigue from the cold." Maria Hill said.
"Meaning?" President Gyrich grunted.
"They're trained." Maria Hill responded.
"We have countless forces under our command." President Gyrich scoffed.
"Yet you seem on edge, sir." Maria Hill pinpointed.
"Ha! Hahaha! I'm not worried that he can actually do as he vows he will. I'm worried about if blatantly attacking our forces before the public, constantly. This could lead to us possibly looking weak before the public." President Gyrich said.
"Captain America couldn't turn the 'war' into his side's favor. There's no way in hell whoever this is will be able to do what Captain America couldn't. Don't worry, sir. We'll find this freak and either imprison or execute him before the people's eyes." Maria Hill chuckled, scoffing with each word.
"True enough, but I don't want the public to get the wrong idea of how I'm not responding to this." President Gyrich sighed.
"Sir, if you respond to this one attack it might present a crack in your armor. It might show a sense of anxiety or fear, that is not what the people need to see you having." Maria Hill replied.
Gyrich leaned back in his chair, rubbing his forehead.
"After so many years, why now? What's caused this one rebel to lash out? Yes, we have a few cases here or there, stretched out…but this…this seems…different. I feel as if-" President Gyrich sighed.
"Sir, don't let your emotions cloud your judgment. As a leader, your feelings cannot dictate your actions. Logic, calculation, and precise judgment is needed." Maria Hill interjected.
"Fair point, Director…but people are shaped by their feelings. This is undoubtedly what this one vigilante is being directed by." President Gyrich replied.
"Then he shall fall. When one's emotions guide them, they become unfocused and vulnerable. That's when their real immorality shows." Maria Hill responded.
"Aren't feelings a part of what defines morality, Maria?" President Gyrich asked.
"Perhaps, but my feelings take a backseat. Captain America's emotions drove his morality and look what happened to him. All those so called 'heroes' were repulsively immoral, emotion drove them. Yes, those like Iron Man were intelligent…but led by those like Captain America, they were infected with the raw and dangerous feelings that led to their deaths." Maria Hill answered, unfazed by the question.
President Gyrich was quiet for a moment or two, contemplating.
"So I don't respond? Act as if this nation's leader doesn't care if one madman causes chaos?" President Gyrich grunted.
"You will respond…in a way. Like always, those who oppose shall fall. Those who disagree with intimidate and threaten. It hasn't failed in years, sir." Maria Hill replied.
"Yes…I'm well aware…but…as you know…the rest of the world is uncertain of what to think of us. Diplomacy has been near impossible to achieve even with our former allies." President Gyrich grunted.
"It doesn't matter what they think of us. We are dong what's best for this country. Soon enough, the rest of the world will follow our lead." Maria Hill scoffed.
"I agree with you, Director Hill…but they don't trust us." President Gyrich sighed.
"We don't need their trust." Maria Hill replied.
"It seems politics escape you, Ms. Hill." President Gyrich grunted.
"They haven't…but do you think with the position that we're in, we can still accomplish…that we should be worried about what others think of us?" Maria Hill chuckled.
"Regardless, how we react to those who openly defy us defines us as a superpower." President Gyrich said.
"Really?" Maria Hill chuckled.
"Metaphorically, Ms. Hill, metaphorically." President Gyrich said.
"I know. Don't worry, Mr. President, everything is under control. This one pathetic vigilante won't be able to bring down the government. He may have vowed to bring us down, but I seriously doubt he'll be able to do anything when we can see him. Once we do, bullets fly." Maria Hill chuckled.
President Gyrich smiled and nodded. There was a knocking at the Oval Office's doors. A man opened them and another man ran in. He is panting, face dripping with sweat. His eyes shake with anxiety. President Gyrich stood up.
"What is it?" President Gyrich grunted.
"Sir…we…we've just received reports that the one who attacked the agent in New York City during the blizzard…just attacked a convoy housing some individuals who refused to sign the Registration Act…in daylight…defeating the armed guard of a dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. agents before a crowd." The man replied hesitantly.
"Are you sure?" President Gyrich asked.
"C-Check the news on your phone, sir." The man responded.
Gyrich pulled out his phone and didn't have to dig long to find what the man reported: the mysterious vigilante battling armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents while he himself was unarmed before a crowd of onlookers. To the man's added annoyance, he saw the vigilante picked up one of the agent's guns and destroyed a large sign of the president in the area proclaiming for superhumans and/or vigilantes to join the Registration Act. President Gyrich slammed his free fist onto the desk.
"Get me a film crew. Now." President Gyrich ordered.
After several minutes an emergency broadcast is being played on every screen across the nation. President Gyrich sits, live, for an announcement.
"My fellow Americans, for years we have lived in peace. Society held order, there was a system that worked to ensure the safety of the common man. The Registration Act has lead to the United States to living in an ordered community, where safety is the highest priority for the government. We have fought hard to make that dream come true. But now…a familiar and disgusting scourge has come to infect our home. He wishes to create chaos, to bring down the ordered society in which we thrive because of. Good men have been attacked by this madman, men in service of this country. He had disrespected and violated the laws that keep our nation in order. He believes he is above the law, that he can bring down the machine that works so hard to keep this society thriving…but I promise you this: he is wrong, we shall bring down this menace as we have done so many others. He shall be ripped from the ground and be revealed for the cowardly criminal he is. As your President, I do solemnly swear that he and any like him shall be brought to justice." The President proclaimed, voice and eyes focused.
The broadcast ended. The President sat for a moment or so, satisfied with himself. Maria Hill looked unimpressed, but others looked at the man with the utmost excitement and respect.
"I think that sent the message perfectly clear. Don't you think, Director?" President Gyrich chuckled.
Maria Hill didn't respond, just seemingly stared off somewhere else contemplating something. Suddenly everyone's phones starting going off. On every screen across the nation there was blackness…then…suddenly two ghastly green eyes appear. Despite the glowing, only the eyes are present. Then a voice, or seemingly a collection of multiple voices speak in unison.
"Control…that is what the government seeks and nearly fully has. They have systematically and mercilessly have almost every known aspect of society under their thrall. Bigotry, fear, and sadism have led to different areas of life to be taken control of. People of nonhuman species or of incomplete human species have been ordered to register with an unjust and discriminatory act that founds itself upon that bigotry. Mutants, mutates, inhumans, and other nonhuman beings have been forced to either work for the government or surrender their freedom for simply being different." The voice said.
(An unknown location)
Several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are incased in ice, unconscious and severely beaten. A tall, imposing figure with ice for armor and hands covered in ice with the haze dancing around them. The figure watches a screen above them watching/listening to the broadcast.
"People have been lost to this horrific regime. Those of various walks of life, who had hopes and dreams, who wanted many things from life were taken by the unjust laws. Imprisoned, enslaved, or slaughtered…this horror has gone on long enough!" The voice continued.
The figure nods in agreement.
(Another unknown location)
A young black man sits in a chair in an apartment, watching/listening to the voice on the TV.
"Those who are different have been called the 'enemy'. Proclaimed that if their powers weren't in service of the government that they were to be labeled an abomination! They are called monsters, freaks, unholy creatures, and other horrid monikers. That's only part of the truth. Even if one of this order signs the act, they are still considered monstrosities and horrid failures of creation. They are wrong. Each person is gifted in their own way: human, mutant, inhuman…every person regardless of species holds something to offer this world. Don't be afraid of who you are! Of who you were born to be!" The voice continued.
The young man stands up. His body shifts into a larger, more muscular form with turquoise and perhaps scaly skin. Wings burst from his back. Glowing blue lines shine and surge along his arms and wings.
(Another unknown location)
A young, short girl wearing a hood sees the voice speaking from a television across a street corner within a shop.
"Families have suffered! Loved ones have been taken and lost! For either being different or helping others because they are different. Bonds have been severed because of what this disgusting order that seeks control has acted! They seek to continue this horrid agenda! To keep breaking people apart! Dividing people figuratively and literally of all manners! This cannot be stood for any longer! People must be united and reunited! To show that bonds cannot be so easily broken! That their hatred cannot destroy what people hold for one another!" The voice continued.
The girl nods and walks around a corner not far from the store while still listening to the broadcast. She stands before a brick wall with the image of the President and Maria Hill plastered on it. She throws her right fist forward, which goes through the wall with her hand unhurt while the wall tumbles to the ground.
(Another unknown location)
A woman with clothing defining her hourglass and athletic figure holds a man around his throat with one hand in the air. She twists her hand, snapping his neck. She releases her grip. He drops to the ground, landing to lay with several other corpses of other broken and blood drained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents armed with heavy duty weapons. She walks over to some cages, several malnourished animals within them. She watches a television across from her, observing the broadcast.
"Even nature itself is being torn and defiled by their horrific designs. Species of different kinds, even those of the non-humanoid variety are being slaughtered and are facing extinction. The wilds, home to many living things, like our own homes are being destroyed and degraded. Those of which some of society deem as lesser beings and those most closely tied to or within the same unfortunate dire situations are suffering because of this horror! They have no respect or regard for any form of life! This must end!" The voice continued.
The woman grins, revealing a few sharp teeth dripping with blood.
(The Oval Office)
Those gathered observe the broadcast on the projector screen. Various gazes from fear to hatred witness the broadcast.
"These foes are powerful, it is true. They hold many strengths: arsenals of deadly weapons, vast armies of soldiers, Sentinels, a horde of the clones of the great heroic god Thor, those who willingly agreed to sign the Registration Act, and possibly other unknown horrors. For too long they have dominated society, destroyed and corrupted the elements that of which while not perfect held some semblance of goodness. That is why they must be opposed! There must be those who know and realize this government for what it is: a controlling, power hungry, bigoted cabal of people who have created a regime to enslave society. That is why this broadcast is being sent: To start a rebellion! To bring down those in power who wish to control whatever they see fit! This new war shall not be easy, there is no lie in that. They hold great power and will use it to crush any possibility of resistance…but they have so already! The suffering hasn't stopped! It hasn't been defeated! Shown that such evil will not be tolerated amongst those who are willing to fight for what is right! For all who wish and hope for a better tomorrow! For those who wish to see this corrupt order destroyed and for all its victims, including the great heroes who originally tried to fight the Registration Act, to be avenged: I call for a rebellion! I call upon all those who will join me to battle and forge a better future! Let us right the wrongs of these villains! LET IT BE KNOWN: THE WAR HAS BEGUN!" The voice continued then the broadcast ended.
To be continued…
(Again, I am so sorry for the late update. I have really been meaning to get back into my stories, I apologize for the delay…again…Oh, and thanks for Noble Six, gemm1mt, and OfficalUSMWriter for three of the OCs that appeared in this chapter (the fourth is mine). Thanks again guys, I really appreciate the additions and help for widening/deepening the story. Hope this story makes up for the wait.)