Chapter 25: Thaddeus Ross

"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 New York Times.

"The Miracle of Stoney Creek."

"Better. I like that one." said Cerion.

"Do you now?" asked Fury leaning forward.

"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?" asked Fury.

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 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 in Flight 93."

"I suppose that's also the reason why you intervened and abducted Bruce Banner?"

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. 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?"

"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 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 and he did. He was not going to involve in any investigation SHIELD was looking into.

"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 radiations 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?"

From Fury's tone, he got the feeling the Director of SHIELD was not looking forward to having someone with the strength to flatten tanks. He could empathize with Fury's concerns.

"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 Cerion has no idea whether such a thing is possible. The least he can do, based on the information he gathered so far, is to 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 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 with 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 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 went ahead pitching the idea behind the Avengers. Truth be told, he didn't understand why Fury was keen on this idea to hand over the protection of Earth to a selective number of people outside Fury's authority. Perhaps, Fury believes he can keep the future Avengers under his thumb and use them as a tactical cavalry of sorts against an organized 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 as a group would always be a threat to nations and political interests so long as they operate outside the spectrum of regulations. When politics and nations oppose a group it will be hard for that group to operate in the open for a long time, especially when the majority of the group is comprised of humans.

But, he didn't voice his thoughts and merely nodded along with Fury's sales pitch.

XXXXXX

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 as well as no one knew just who 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 abroad the 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 to 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 take 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 owing 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 floundered in the dark.

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. 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 has 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 will trickle down to the rest of the wolves of the industry. An industry that was built by the blood of patriots, enemies innocents, terrorists and criminals alike.

Since Hammer has so conveniently walked into his line of sight Cerion was not going to let the man go that easily. Lounging on the couch of his Mountain View apartment's basement, he quickly came up with a plan.

"Optima I want hard copies of every bit of illegal activity Justin Hammer and Hammer Industries, in general, have ever indulged in."

"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 matter that was far more benign.

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 quick as possible was certainly going to be advantageous for a nation that was going into war. Anyone with a smudge of sense could see 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 will 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.

For that, Cerion appreciated General Ross. At least, the man has 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 in without his direct intervention.

"Optima, activate the underground facility of Vex Corp and begin construction on model SD1."

"As you wish sir." said Optima.

The underground installation was something he had built up with the help of his drones just in case for shifting any sensitive work 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 in a military facility on the invitation of General Ross. 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 got hit, we will hit them back a thousand times harder." was the gruff reply from General Ross.

"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 have the highest military clearance in the country. Whatever your agreements with SHIELD does not prohibit you from sharing any information with us. Is that clear?"

"Of course, General. May I proceed?" he asked.

"You may."

"Thank you, General. Gentleman, what you are about to see will change the face of warfare as we know it."

And 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 100KWh Terranium battery which can last for a day 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 starting at the discs unseemingly. It was General Ross who broke the silence.

"What are those purple discs?"

"Glad you asked General. If you could 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 a 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 a prototype, they do function very smoothly. Any questions?"