"The Angel of Pennsylvania. That's what the Washington Post is calling you." said Fury, staring at Cerion with his lone eye.
"Unimaginative." Cerion commented while Fury set the paper down before picking up the New York Times.
"The Miracle of Stoney Creek."
"Better. I like that one." said Cerion.
"Do you now?" asked Fury, leaning forward with his hands on the table.
"I think that's more of a catchy headline." Cerion responded blandly.
"Do you know what you have done?" asked Fury.
Cerion didn't like that tone one whit. Fury looked as if he was talking to an unruly teenager.
"Do you? Cause I think I just saved lives, and I think you managed to capture the hijackers."
"Oh! So you want a standing ovation, do you?" Fury smirked.
Cerion's eyes twitched in irritation. "No. You could tone down your bullshit a bit."
Fury remained seated and eyed him silently. "Tell me something. Why did you intervene? There have been numerous incidents where people were under threat of losing their lives. You've never interfered then, and let me remind you, you were the one who asked for immunity from interfering with human affairs. So why now?"
Cerion leaned back in his chair while drumming his fingers in agitation.
"Sometimes you just react without thinking of the consequences. At the time, I only thought of saving the lives of the people on Flight 93."
"I suppose that's also the reason why you intervened and abducted Bruce Banner?" Fury needled without batting an eye.
He eyed Fury with a poker face, refusing to show any reaction. In his mind, he was weighing the pros and cons of admitting or denying Fury's accusation. The thought barely lasted a second before he came to a quick answer.
"That's one of the reasons," said Cerion, admitting to the rescue of Bruce Banner, "The other being he is undergoing Terrigenesis, and the last thing he needs is your men hunting him to the ends of the world, which might erode his psyche."
Fury sat up with interest. "Terrigenesis?"
'Man, I walked right into that one, didn't I?' Cerion thought with a groan.
He supposed it was information already in HYDRA's hands. So, SHIELD, knowing more about the Kree's past activities on Earth was not so bad.
"It is an intermediary phase to the next step in human evolution. This is why the Kree are interested in the human species. They found out your species has the potential to evolve beyond your current state."
He could observe his answer worried Fury, whose heartbeat he was listening to keenly.
"The Kree are not involved with Dr Banner, are they?" Fury asked in alarm.
"Oh no. From what little I've learned, Dr Banner was, at the very least, experimented on at an early age. Whatever that has been done to him lay dormant within until…"
"…the accident in Culver." Fury finished with a thoughtful nod.
Cerion looked curiously at Fury, noting the subtle shift in the heartbeat.
"You don't think it was an accident." he observed.
"All options are being considered," Fury muttered, silently asking him to drop the line of questioning, which he did.
He was not going to be involved in any investigation SHIELD was conducting. Removing Banner from the equation was far more helpful to the situation to ensure there was no escalation from any side.
"Well, I'd bet Dr Banner was experimented on or at least inherited something from his parents. No normal human being can take the amount of Gamma radiation the guy took and walk out of it with his life."
"On that note…." Fury folded his hands atop the table for support. "What are you going to do with Banner?"
"In the best-case scenario, help undo what has happened to him." said Cerion with a shrug.
"And the worst being…." Fury looked expectantly.
"The guy will have to live with it and somehow learn to control his phase shift."
"Is that possible?"
Fury's tone gave him the impression that the Director of SHIELD was not looking forward to having someone with the strength to flatten tanks running around. He could empathise with Fury's concerns about Banner letting loose in the middle of a city.
"That depends entirely on Dr Banner. As I said, Dr Banner is undergoing an evolution. It is for him to decide whether to take the step forward or remain as he is." Cerion said honestly.
He had no idea whether Bruce would be receptive to accepting his evolution. It was no easy task to let go of one's self and become something else. He faced that same dilemma in Krypton, but he had the advantage of at least looking human. Bruce was not similarly blessed. So, he'd understand if Bruce would prefer to eradicate the Hulk from his body.
The problem was that Cerion had no idea whether such a thing was possible. Based on the information he gathered so far, the least he could do was suppress the phase shift, although this option has its own problems.
"I'd like to be updated on his status." said Fury with a challenging look.
Cerion shrugged. "Sure. I'll also keep Dr Banner in the loop. It doesn't sit well with me if I share information regarding him without his knowledge."
He got the feeling that Fury was not keen on such a deal, but there was nothing Fury could do to convince him otherwise.
"Very well, then." Fury took to his feet, his trench coat sliding out smoothly from the chair. "Despite the risk of your exposure, you did a good thing by saving those people. You have my thanks, Vex."
"So, you do have a moral code. Most people in power lack them. It's heartening to see that I was wrong." said Cerion before giving Fury an approving nod.
"Don't hedge your bets on me, Mr Vex. I do what I do to protect people," said Fury, then a peculiar expression struck Fury's face, "Have you, by any chance, heard of the Avengers Initiative?"
Cerion cocked his eyebrow questioningly like a pro. "Never heard of the term. Is that a new band?"
Fury flashed him an amused smirk. "No, Mr Vex. It's not a band, at least, not yet."
He listened keenly as Fury pitched the idea behind the Avengers. Truthfully, he didn't understand why Fury was keen on handing over Earth's protection to a selective number of people outside Fury's authority. Perhaps Fury believed he could keep the future Avengers under his thumb and use them as a tactical cavalry of sorts against an organised enemy.
Since Cerion didn't have the power to read minds, Fury's thoughts on the subject eluded him. Then again, there was no point in learning Fury's thoughts.
The Avengers, once formed, would become a threat to nations and political interests so long as they operate outside the regulatory spectrum. When politics and nations oppose a group, it'd be hard for that group to operate in the open for a long time, especially when the majority of the group was comprised of humans.
But he didn't voice his thoughts and merely nodded along with Fury's sales pitch.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks, all flights in and out of the country were grounded for the time being. It was a smart move, and no one knew who had perpetrated these attacks.
The only bit of good news is that the passengers of Flight 93 escaped a gruesome death, and the hijackers were properly captured by the authorities. The people aboard Flight 93 were far braver than the terrorists thought they would be. Even before Cerion got involved, the flight's passengers were on their way to breaking into the cockpit. That was when the terrorists decided to crash the plane quickly rather than trying their luck to hit Washington.
Either way, the passengers of Flight 93 certainly provided a ray of light in the dark days of September 11. The nation, while struck by the devastation and death that followed the terrorist attack, was also more than pumped up for a fight.
Now, this time around, with two hijackers captured, he hoped the US would wage war on those who invested in these reptilian scumbags. The next few months would show whether the US would make the right decisions instead of being bogged down in a foreign country with no clear goals.
With the whole country in lockdown, all his business meetings had to be rescheduled. One board meeting was supposed to be held on Thursday, but it was pushed back due to the attack. The uncertainty caused by the attack has also plummeted the Stock Exchange for the time being. The value of the dollar was only going to dip further in the coming weeks as the US govt floundered in the dark. The uncertainty and fear caused by the attack tanked the markets, and everyone had to watch the graph plummet to the bottom. Vex Corp was also not spared from the market getting wiped out.
It would have been dark days ahead for an emerging company, so it didn't really surprise Cerion when he received two calls from two different people. Both of them came with offers, but only one interested him.
The two gentlemen were Justin Hammer and Thaddeus Ross.
Hammer was interested in buying Vex Corp and the guy did offer a lucrative sum of money. There was no chance in hell that Cerion was selling out his company to that loon or anyone else for that matter. After all, Vex Corp was his front to legally acquire enormous materials to restore his ships. Even so, he didn't immediately dismiss the offer. Instead, he asked for some time to consult with his board members before making a decision.
A man like Justin Hammer had too many skeletons in his closet. Finding those skeletons would be an advantage to his plans. The guy must have become bold after the latest attacks. No doubt, Hammer was now greedily looking into the US Senate to declare war on some country and bomb the shit out of it for years.
While Stark Industries would get the largest bite out of any defence contracts the rest willtrickle downto the rest of the wolves in the industry. An industry that was built by the blood of patriots, enemies, innocents, terrorists and criminals alike.
Since Hammer had conveniently walked into his line of sight, Cerion was not going to let the man go that easily. Lounging on the couch in his Mountain View apartment's basement, he quickly devised a plan.
"Optima, I want hard copies of every bit of illegal activity Justin Hammer and Hammer Industries, in general, have indulged in." Cerion ordered.
He was not certain what he'd do with the information but he wanted it on hand to take down Hammer should the need ever arise.
"Yes, sir."
With that out of the way, he could now focus on the second interesting figure who contacted him today. Surprisingly, General Ross's call was focused on a far more benign matter.
And truth be told, he was interested in Ross' apparent decision to invite him over. To that end, he began to lay out the work for Ross' current interest. The General was not interested in Super-Soldier serum, and even if he was, Cerion was not going to help the guy.
This time, General Ross was interested in the instant healing technology he used on the desert base. The ability to heal a wounded soldier as quickly as possible was certainly going to be advantageous for a nation going into war. Anyone with a smudge of sense could see that America would be at war. The questions that remained were who, when, and where.
The moment the political apparatus of America feeds the public with answers, the clamour for war would rise far stronger to take vengeance for this attack. And if fate held any sway over the future of this nation, it would go on to war with Iraq and Afghanistan. It didn't matter where at the moment as the war was inevitable.
Reducing the number of casualties before the war even began was an ideal thought.
Cerion appreciated General Ross for that. At least the man had that level of concern for his men. Most men would not show such considerations. That was why he was intent on helping the US out of the warzone it was inevitably going to jump into without his direct intervention.
"Optima, activate the underground facility of Vex Corp and begin construction on model SD1."
"As you wish sir." said Optima.
He had built the underground installation with the help of his drones just in case any sensitive work needed to be moved from earthly automation. Now, he finally had an excuse to have the facility operational, as he had a demonstration to perform.
The next day, he was at a military facility on General Ross's invitation. Outside the large demonstration facility, soldiers were undergoing their rigorous training regimen.
"Mr Vex, welcome abroad to our base." Ross greeted him gruffly.
"General. Thanks for the airlift. It should not have been easy to arrange an airlift from California to Arizona considering recent events."
"The army does not function with fear in mind, son. If we get hit, we will hit them back a thousand times harder," was General Ross's gruff reply.
"Of course."
Cerion otherwise remained silent after that and only took note of several members of an army expert panel. Most likely, they were part of the defence acquisition of the Pentagon.
"Now, Mr. Vex, know that the panel assembled before you has the highest military clearance in the country. Whatever your agreements with SHIELD are, they do not prohibit you from sharing any information with us. Is that clear?"
"Of course, General. Your people debriefed me in detail on all the relevant documents." said Cerion, "Now, may I proceed?"
"You may."
"Thank you, General. Gentleman, what you are about to see will change the face of warfare as we know it."
With a flourish, Cerion opened a small box before picking up the controller. Switching on the controller, he activated the discs, and they floated out of the box one at a time. There were four discs: two of them were painted black, while the other two were painted purple.
The mere fact that four discs that can fit in a human palm just floating in the air without any observable flight assistance took the panel by surprise.
"The discs are mobile using anti-gravity technology powered by a 100KWh Terranium battery, which can last for six hours if continuously used. Now, the blue discs are called Restoration Discs or RD for short. They house a high-intensity amplifier and an electrode that helps to absorb and convert the sunlight into Vita rays that enhance metabolism in the human body. Observe."
On General Ross' nod, a soldier cut his palm with a knife. Blood poured out of the cut, but Cerion controlled the discs to deal with the soldier's injury. A small burst of Vita rays exited the discs, impinging the soldier's palm. With a hiss, the wound closed itself with nary a sign of the wound's existence on the soldier's palm.
"Any questions?"
Cerion looked around at the expert panel, but they were just staring at the discs with a wide eyes. It was General Ross who broke the silence.
"What are those purple discs?"
"I'm Glad you asked, General. Could you please direct any of your men to shoot at the purple discs?" said Cerion as he made some adjustments on the controller.
Ross looked hesitant at first but ordered one of his men to shoot the discs. As the shots were fired, the blue discs let out a pulse of energy, and an energy shield sprung up in a straight layer, stopping the bullets. The whole room, full of army officers, looked down at the crushed bullet heads lying on the floor with collective shock.
"I call them Shield Discs or sometimes Shielders. They need more trials, but as prototypes, they do function very smoothly. Do you have any questions?"