Civil War - Part I

"Our director. Must be something important." Trent mumbled after taking a bite of food.

Kris turned her attention to the television screen, which displayed the presidential speech, along with the Director of SHIELD. She picked up a remote, raising the volume of the monitor.

The television cut to a news broadcast, with video that were captured from the event taking place in Pennsylvania a few weeks prior. The headline of the broadcast was titled "Assailant Still At Large" with captions underneath the headline and scrolling across the screen, saying things such as "Governor of Pennsylvania declares a state of emergency." Along with "S.H.I.E.L.D arrives in search and rescue efforts."

A news broadcaster began speaking over the video clips and started speaking her report.

"Harrisburg residents continue to mourn for the loss of dozens of loved ones after last week's devastating terror attack on the capital building." The video clips cut out and a picture of a man came onto the television set. "Inside sources indicate that 24 year old, Vladimir Turken was the culprit behind last week's attack. Thanks to eyewitness accounts, police records were able to pull up records for Vladimir." The screen then brought up a list of statistics next to Vladimir's picture, such as his height, weight, ethnicity, etc.

A picture of the Oscorp logo then flashed onto the screen and the reporter started listing off Vladimir's connection to Oscorp and the same project relating to Omnipotence. The report lasted for a few minutes until the reporter handed off to another reporter, who was live inside of the White House reporting the President's Speech.
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"Are we live?" The reporter asked off camera. "Okay, good." The reporter stepped into view of the camera, it was the same reporter who was at the scene of the Omnipotence fight. "Stephanie Portman here reporting live inside the white house, where the president will soon give his long awaited speech, accompanied by S.H.I.E.L.D director Alex Cross." She spent the next minute or two summarizing the event and the camera-man zoomed in on the president, who was declaring for the room to quiet down as he stood at the podium.

"Good evening, my fellow Americans." The president began, the room was silent, you could hear a pen drop from across the room. "Tonight, I wanna speak to you about a terrible tragedy, that occurred very recently. I'm sure you all in this room, and all of you watching here at home, are fully aware of the events that went down in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the evening of Thursday of last week. A man walked into the capital building and caused it's destruction, losing the lives of government officials, and innocent American citizens." The President continued to speak as Alex shuffled in the background behind the president, his arms behind his back in an "at ease" form.

For the next several minutes, the president gave out his prayers to the families who lost their loved ones in this tragic event, and he also addressed S.H.I.E.L.D's search and rescue efforts in the capital city of Harrisburg, where they were there helping out the town after the incident.

"My highest priority, is the protection of the United States and preserving the security of the American people. Over the last several years, we have put our lives in the hands of super powered individuals. The Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, all of the sort are those who fight to protect our American soil. S.H.I.E.L.D has done a fine job in raising, teaching, and providing everything needed for 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes', the Avengers. They are in fact, the reason why I'm here giving you this speech tonight. Earlier this year, as you may all know, an entity deeming himself "Omnipotence" attacked New York City. This entity was the work of Oscorp, a business that focuses on the distribution of scientifically enhanced weaponry for the military, and technologies that can further improve the world we all live in. Omnipotence was part of the Omni Project, serving as the titular experiment for the project. It however escaped testing and wreaked havoc across the city."

Alex quickly tightened his suit tie as the President continued to speak. "This is why I am ordering for Oscorp's Science Division to be shut down. Not only did their work threaten the good people of America, but they continued testing the experiment on other human beings, one of which being Vladimir Turken, the one responsible for the Harrisburg Massacre." The President lifted a hand and waved it back towards Alex. "Together, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D and I will be holding a public press conference tomorrow evening to discuss the shutdown of Oscorp's Science Division, and we will order the termination of the Omni Project once and for all. He will be bringing the Avengers to accompany him at the press conference."

Everything after that, the speech seemed to drift off. Jacob slowly lowered the volume on the television and sat there staring at the screen with his bowl of food in his lap.

"They're shutting it down?" He repeated in a questioning voice.

Chris' face was puzzled for a long time, he couldn't speak for a moment. "What?" was the only word he could cough up.

Ken walked in the penthouse arriving from disappearing almost directly after the Omnipotence fight, he had a backpack on his back. He had walked into the living room "Did I miss dinner?" He asked, trying to crack a joke, not knowing of the speech what so ever.

Chris still stared at the TV "You missed some things" Chris said never looking away from it.

"Like?" Ken said energetically, hoping over the couch and sat beside Chris

Chris gave Ken the rundown in the shortest way possible, while still hitting all of the major details. All without looking away from the TV as he was still in awe.

Elizabeth was new to the Avengers. He had never been on a mission before, but he was so ready to go on one. He had been at home, watching TV, when he flipped past a challenge that showed the president giving a speech. It was about a previous event that had occured and how the president would shut something down. Elizabeth hardly listened, as he quickly left his home and headed to the avengers tower. He saw this as an opportunity to meet some of the other Avengers and see what was really going on.

"Hm, so we have to go?" Ken asked, turning his head to the T.V

Vanessa, in awe and bewildered, sat still on the chair. She gripped her fork handle and her plate, unsure what to do now. After a good while, she set down her food, having lost her appetite. She awaited for someone to do something, whether an order or having a fit.

Trent stood up, sitting his plate down on the table and exhaling sharply, he ran his hands through husbhair, pacing around the living area. "Why did Alex hide this from us...?" He asked, mainly to Jacob.

Chris remained silent

Mark entered the tower, not sure of how it would go from there, but he was hoping well. He slowly walked into the room he heard slight noises from. He saw someone and proceeded to say, "hello".

Ken proceeds to go to the training room, not needing to get ready for the next day

Chris saw Mark and waved, "what are you doing here?" he asked.

The President's speech continued for the next 10 or 20 minutes before he finally concluded and the news reporter concluded her report.

Jacob turned the TV off and tossed the remote to Jenny on the couch to next to him. He stood up and pointed at Trent. "Get Alex on the phone, tell him to meet us here at the tower, now."

"Already on it." Trent said, putting his phone to his ear after dialing Alex. "Get your ass to the tower. Pronto. You've got a ton of explaining to do." He barked.

Several hours passed, turning the evening into a dead silent night. The tower was dark and the only light in the penthouse was the light beaming off of the TV, Jenny was still on the couch, now reading a book. Chris decided to take Mark and join Ken in the training room, leaving Jacob and Trent waiting around for Alex to show up.

He eventually did, a S.H.I.E.L.D helicopter slowly lowered itself onto the tower's observatory deck, Alex stepped out and told his pilot to wait for him. He was still in his suit from president's speech. Strutting into the penthouse, Jacob flipped on the light and illuminated the whole room.

"Why the hell did you keep this from us?" Trent asked, standing up and walking over to Alex, confusion and frustration covering his face.

Chris finished training and hid on the other side of the wall in the main room, he was determined to listen.