After more waiting, agent Smith pushed through the main doors. She was fashionably late as she walked in shamelessly. Besides her was the Commissioner of the NGPD, Julian Oates, and a drove of detectives and police lieutenants.
“Hello and good evening ladies and gentlemen! I’m glad to see this beautiful courthouse still standing. Now, Let's get down to business.” said Smith.
Except, no one seemed too interested in business, they went about yelling and taunting one another as if Nubia’s voice was a dry fart with zero seasoning.
It wasn’t so loud when Overlord walked in behind her. Like a bad omen, his presence silenced everyone. His helmet barely fit through the door and cloak dragged along the floor like a shadow. The second the Heroes saw him they got serious, releasing their hold from each other's throats and gripping their lips to prevent whatever joke they had in mind for Smith and her pinstripe suit.
Delighted by the silence brought by the cryptic Hero, she walked towards the judges stand with the loud clacking of her shoes filling the room. She sat down and her fellow agents brought in a projector and white screen, alongside various folders: documents regarding the topic of the meeting no doubt, as blinds were brought down on the windows and the lights were dimmed.
Overlord on the other hand opted to remain in a corner, watching us. Someone sitting by him in the back pissed themselves. I pulled out a Despotine cigarette, which was lit courtesy of a tiny spark of electricity that shot out of Ahyoka’s fingertip.
She then whispered to me, “Hey who's the spooky guy in the corner?”
I was annoyed, she should have known who Overlord was, it's like not knowing about George Washington or Martin Luther King Jr. But on the other hand, most people were told the same thing: He was born from a nuclear meltdown in California, real name was unknown, making him one of the original Superheroes to aid the US. That's mostly it, everything else is crime fighting, conventional super power application, and disaster response theory that has no correlation to Overlord despite being cited by him.
It was no wonder some people forgot who he was.
I told her that I saw him at the bank heist and that got her heart pumping real fast. She was about to start yapping away like a kid, asking a million questions at once, until I shushed her. There would be time to talk after the meeting.
The film projector came to life as a short movie began to play, a dramatic fanfare and string instruments roared out of the speakers. Images of burning buildings, dead bodies, and crying masses flashed quickly. Photos of calm forests turned into raging battlefields and even a police car impaled through a statue. Text that evoked adrenaline and urgency appeared saying:
TERROR ON THE FRONTIER
TRAINS DERAILED
BANKS SACKED
MANUFACTOROUMS SET ABLAZE
WHO’S TO BLAME?
The Apostates THAT'S WHO!
Three mugshots slid into frame, each with names subtitled under each one. There was the Wolfman, a Native American-looking man with a mustache, swept back hair and an intense stare, and a mischievous cat girl wearing a witches hat: Andre, The Chief, and Inamorata respectively.
Snickers from the audience flew around like the buzzing of an insect.
One Hero wearing a military beret and ridiculously long scarf commented, “A grumpy old man and his two pets. That’s what got Uncle Sam in a tizzy?”
Smith spoke up from her lofty seat, ignoring the comment “What is a true hero?”
I knew the answer to the question but I wasn’t sure if it was rhetorical or not. Until Ahyoska raised her hand up high and yelled, “Someone who always does the right thing!”
She said it with so much sincerity and hope a good chunk of the room felt the need to laugh. I squeezed the armrest of my chair till it started to splinter. The things they began saying about my bestie! I was glad she couldn’t hear as well as I.
However Smith didn’t find her answer to be humorous. Instead she followed up by asking, “And can anybody tell me what the right thing is?”
She hit us with a real head scratcher.
The apeman did actually scratch his head though.
She brought Green Sky Event, how its devastation left the country in ruins, quasi ran unchecked, and society fell back into a barbaric and primitive state.
“Think about it kids! Imagine living in a world where might made right, where people who didn’t have any powers were enslaved because they couldn’t fight back.” Smith went on to say. Silence continued, someone yawned. Her stage presence needed some work for sure.
Noble IX said to Sir Blue, “She says that like it's a bad thing. God knows these vermin need to be put in check.”
Sir Blue didn’t say a thing, remaining focused on the presentation.
“And I know that secretly… you’d like that wouldn’t you?” agent Smith said. Now she caught the crowd's attention.
As well as mine.
Her perceptively violet eyes almost lit up in the darkness, “Freedom is the right of every American; quasi or not. But being on top of the food chain isn’t true freedom. You have to concern yourself with the responsibility of looking after those under your rule, constantly looking over your shoulder to make sure nobody gets any ambitious ideas about the rearrangement of the tribalistic hierarchy. Even your fellow quasi are not to be trusted, for they are your rivals. Imagine a never ending competition where the loser gets scalped by the winner and no referee to keep things in line. Does that sound fun to you?”
Discussion broke out amongst the audience, pensive exchanges were shared followed by disagreement. Those who were at each other's throats sat unaware of the rivals next to them, weighing the agent’s points internally.
“What is she on about?” said Ahyoka, justifiably confused.
Something like a smirk dared to appear on my face; maybe Ms. Cali wasn’t so much a farce after all?
“On behalf of the US government, your freedom and autonomy is respected and will continue to be supported regardless of your cooperation on this project.”
At the mention of the word project, I alongside many other Superheroes become anxious, the ounce of admiration that started to grow for Smith dwindled. I impatiently asked, “What project?”
The agent’s charismatic smile turned into a scowl briefly as she let out a small, “Who the fuck?” until she laid eyes on me.
She beamed, “Oh is that you Power-Jack? Didn’t recognize you without the mask, I was worried you wouldn’t show! I love the question, you're pretty and smart.”
“Yes Ms. Smith, please tell us what you have planned. Many of us have jobs to do.” said Sir Blue as he glanced at me causing my heart to skip a beat. I had to stay focused and ignore those stupid dumb distractions.
People stood up from their chairs, demanding the agent to spit it out already. Unfortunately before the agent said anything a sudden and even louder uproar came from the mass of Heroes. At that point I figured I should just leave, the noise was drilling into my head something fierce and I was getting hungry. I’d prefer showing Ahyoka around Vino Heights then partake in this clotting circus.
Until a chair flew through the air, everyone watched in silence, going from one end of the courtroom to the other, making another broken window.
You’d think people would grow out of this behavior after college. But of course that's asking too much.
Naturally, the courtroom discussion devolved into an all out brawl.
The giant apeman stood in the middle of the chaos swatting away at anyone who got too close to him with his hairy tree trunk forearms. Pews flew up in the air and were brought back down on some poor bastards. The floorboards splintered and cracked,the entire building shook as a large boulder burst from the floor. Those who could fly clashed in mid air with each other recklessly.
I had half the mind to jump in, and I was going to, but Ahyoka grabbed my arm and said, “Let them do their thing, Daisy.”
I listened and sat back down. I told Ahyoka there was a diner that made the best pancakes in town and how we should go there. She nodded in agreement right before a terrible feeling ran up my spine and I caught a stray boney spike inches away from her nose!
She yelped in surprise and I remained quiet, staring at the spike in my hands. I retraced the angle at which it was shot and saw this porcupine-looking asshole on the other side of the room. He wasn’t fighting anyone, hugging the wall, yet his spikes had blood dripping from the tips. He looked at me and I looked at him, and he had the audacity to look surprised when I ran up to him and cracked his jaw.
Couldn’t hear much of anything from all the commotion, but I felt his spikes snap after every punch to his ugly face. He might have stabbed me a bit though I couldn’t tell, I just kept wailing on him.
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
Warm blood that could have been from me or him splashed on my suit and my face. The smell only made me hit even harder. Quasi were generally tougher than regular humans so I went loose a little bit, he could take it unlike Ahyoka. If I wasn’t sitting next to her then she would have been killed. Was this guy even a Superhero?!
I felt a strong wind lift me up off the porcupine and back down. It was Ahyoka, she took me off using her atmospheric powers and grabbed me by the wrist begging me to stop. I got mad, shoving her hand away and asking her what the deal was, I saved her!
She looked so scared. Everyone in that room was scared. Which was inevitable, New Geweld was not for the faint of heart and sometimes you had to put people in their place. Ahyoka was too naive, too soft. That makes her nicer than most Heroes from the get-go but when it comes to making a difference in the world, you won’t last long. Violence is a tool. And as Heroes it's our job to use it as we see fit for the greater good.
She wanted to tell me something. What was it? Her mouth floundered, opening and shutting. Speechless to big city living. Say something!
“QUIET!!!” said a voice of thousands entombed into one. Such a shrieking noise that barely sounded human but ended in a tired strain of a man. Everyone stopped.
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