Chapter 305: Arc Ten. Chapter Two-Hundred Ninety-Seven. The Show Must Go On

“I'm afraid, Peter, that today isn't going to go the way you expect either,” the young man said as he grinned at Peter.

Standing before Peter was a quite young looking and handsome man. His thick brown hair hid a quiet cheeky looking grin and as the young man walked up to him and stuck out his hand for Peter to shake he got the feeling that he knew him from somewhere.

“Oh come now, Peter. You think you’re the only one with secrets?” and as he felt the familiar mind touch his own,

Charles?

As the man smiled and laughed,  he winked as Peter was about to admonish him,

We all have our secrets, Peter, let's not share them in public, shall we?

And sighing, Peter shrugged.

“You see, Senator Malik, you started a fight that you were sure you were going to win. We’d been too careful. Too well hidden, and the true nature of our powers was forgotten.” As Malik opened his mouth Charles raised a hand, “no, I don't think so. In fact, nobody is allowed to speak or move unless I say so,” and the room froze.

“You were made to forget. You were made to forget that we ‘mutants’ as you like to label us, are varied, as are all people. Some have minor powers and can barely move a bottle cap, but some of us. Some of us are so strong we merely need to breathe to make ourselves known.”

Charles lifted a hand and pointed at Gideon Malik who stood,

“I am a Hydra Agent. I was inducted into the order by Alexander Pierce. On a hidden server at 34 Cromwell Street, Massachusetts are all the current files I have on Hydra operations around the globe, including a list of associates and businesses that are fronts for Hydra. I killed my secretary  during the attack on the Triskelion and shot myself to make it look like a botched assassination.”

Charles smiled, “see? That wasn't so hard, was it? And I must say, I am going easy on you.” As Charles turned, “Peter, I need a favour. Pietro was seriously injured, and we could really use your help.”

“Uh sure, I-“ 

But Charles shook his head,  “No I don't need help with Erik, your limb system, I would like to have a system made for Pietro. Erik is,” and Charles sighed, ''Erik is not taking it very well. But let's deal with this mess shall we?”

Charles sat on the edge of the desk,

“You see. This young man was once told something. With great power comes great responsibility. A very wise and astute saying, but, when those with power abuse that responsibility, it is the duty of those with an equal or greater power to teach them their mistake. You hurt my friend's son, you killed several good people with your machines, and we Augments are going to show you just how much power we really have.”

Charles clicked the remote for the screen Peter had set up to show the results of the gene scan and it connected remotely to another camera.

“Say hello to our new community. Genosha was hidden, and yet you found us, my school is hidden, and yet you found us. We went bigger. There is nowhere on Earth safe from you power-hungry dictators, so we picked somewhere else.” Charles smiled, “Did you know the moon once shared an electromagnetic field with the Earth, fascinating stuff. You see, I was once given a piece of advice, well my friend was. Read a book, and he and I both did. We had become complacent, become so entrenched that our way was right we forgot that time moves on. So we read, and we do have a lot to share with the world, the main thing being a safe haven for Augment kind. A place so safe in fact, that nobody but Augments can get here.” 

As the camera view changed a bright green and blue globe appeared on the screen.

“Erik wanted to call it Asteroid M, but really, even I’m not that crass.  So, a safe haven for all Augment kind, Avalon.” 

Peter frowned, but still had a small grin, “Really? Avalon. So are you King Arthur or Guinevere?” and Charles laughed,

“I think Erik looks better in a dress, to be honest.”

And the new you?

We took Shaw's research and applied it to heal Erik's eyes, and my spine. Don't worry, this isn't one of the technologies we plan on sharing. But I am serious, Pietro cannot be healed this way, not every mutant power can be copied, and not every person can be cloned successfully.

Charles stood once more. “We will be in talks with every government, and we will be polite to those who reciprocate, but let me be clear. This kind of abuse will not stand. This treatment of my people, of Augment and Enhanced. Will. Not. Stand!”

Peter put a hand on Charles’s shoulder, “I get it, but you also told me not to be an ass, and uh, a lot of people here are terrified, not the point you should be making.” Charles patted Peter's hand,

“No, it's not, that point was for Gideon, who will either face a proper court, and face proper consequences for his actions, or we will make sure that this incident is never repeated. Augmentkind can exist peacefully with Humanity, and we have several ideas on how to achieve that, but violence never solved anything. As you should be aware of Peter.”

Peter just shrugged, it was his experience that once the talking broke down it was usually violence that solved most things. 

“Every Augment will be identified, on that we agree. With a simple genetic test, we can identify and protect every Augment born from now on. You will get your database, but we will control it. You will get your registration act but it will be for our benefit. We will put laws in place ourselves, global laws that one nation shall not stand above any other, and our kind may seek sanctuary from yours. Any attempts to break our laws will result in Augments with powers much more destructive than my own making themselves known.” 

Charles stood and adjusted his cuffs once more. “It was a pleasure Peter, oh and I think Wanda wishes to see you. Since Erik’s,” and he pursed his lips, “tantrum, she has been angry. I would consider it a personal favour if you could calm her down, maybe before she destroys something.” 

Peter chuckled to himself and shook his head, “I’ll head there next,” he said with a smile.

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“Good, good. Gentleman, Ladies. I will be in touch with President Ellis. Until then.” While the room seemed to blink, and Charles simply vanished from their memories, Peter had watched him leave, easily walking past the frozen security. 

As his powers faded, and the room took a collective breath, the cacophony of questions and anger began. Aimed at the man who had already left, but also at Peter, who he now realised shouldn't have stayed.

As Malik banged the sound block he tried to shout over the angry crowd,

Yeah, I think you should have run, Peter told him, this doesn't end well for you. And as Malik glared at Peter he pointed to the Assembly Hall doors, where two armed guards were receiving orders from another Senator and had begun to unholster their guns, and as one pointed at Senator Malik, he paled and began to rise.

No, I don’t think so, Peter applied mental pressure on the man, forcing him to sit back down. I agree with Charles, you set this up, you are responsible for those deaths, and really, I’d turn your brain into pudding, but, someone has to take the blame. I just don't think you imagined it was going to be you.

The room went into lockdown, and Gideon Malik, cursing about mutant filth, was taken away in handcuffs. Peter knew if he was slippery enough they would cut some kind of deal, but his political career was over at least, and Ellis would get a massive boost by saving democracy and Augmentkind.

The courtroom had erupted in a cacophony of shouting questions and threats. Charles had made his point, a little too well mused Peter. Everyone in the room was shaken. An Augment with the ability to control people was exactly what the law was supposed to protect them against, and while Charles had proven that the law was ultimately flawed and useless, it still proved it was needed.

Peter could hear the questions being shouted at him, and moved to one side as a can of soda was thrown at him.

“Quiet!” he roared and as his voice echoed around the room, carrying with it not just the desire for them to shut up but an actual mental command he also realised that Charles had left two things. One was an envelope and the other was this giant mess. A mess that was now being directed at Peter.

“If I may Senators. With the Augments themselves desiring to negotiate with the president isn’t this a bit,” and he shrugged, “pointless?”

“Mr Parker, there is still some confusion as to your Enhanced identity. With conflicting reports that several heroes and a few villains might actually be you. It is part of this investi-” but the senator closed their mouth and stared as a pale yellow light bled from Peter.

“Yeah, not happening.” As the light spread out through the room, Peter took a breath and began to make changes. The small technopathic pulse that flowed made sure to wipe and destroy any of the recording devices in the room, taking care of the problem once and for all.

As the gallery and the senators, all seemingly blinked in unison the head chair, now that Malik had been removed banged his gavel,

“It is the finding of this committee that Peter Parker is cleared of all wrongdoings. That his identity be kept secret and that there is no connection to the villain known as Venom, and that hearsay and rumour do not constitute evidence or proof of guilt.”

As he smiled and stood, he knew it was over. The Senate was still to debate the new revisions to ARCA, but this time with input from various groups. No one would be left out this time, and Peter knew it would be Gwen that would have to face that round of debates. The Stacey formula, the Banner formula, and now Extremis were all working Super-Soldier serums. And like any power the government would either restrict or heavily control them, but as they could make all three without anyone knowing, Peter didn’t really care. Right now he had bigger problems and once proceedings were finalised he made his way home, tired but with one last thing on his mind.

As the group sat patiently Peter took a breath,

“I need to remove memories from you all, and then have the same done to me.” while they looked confused, it was Liv who spoke,

“The Mind Stone?” and he nodded,

“I used it to get out of Venom being made public, and after Charles's little stunt realised that the fewer people know about it the better and that while I'm being responsible, someone like Selene or even Charles might not be. I want it hidden, but we need to do it properly.”

“Then we don't remove it, we change it. Too many people know you've got it, so we change it to you having it and then it goes missing. We can even dump it on Stephen.” but Peter shook his head,

“He already has two, adding a third makes him a massive target, and I won't do that to anyone” as he thought of putting it in Stark tower he shook his head, even he wasn’t that much of an ass.

“We take it and hide it somewhere, set up a passphrase so everyone can remember if we need it.”

“Then we agree?” and the group looked at each other and nodded,

Gwen nodded as well, “but uh, let's wait until everything settles. I mean, I know using it is bad, and whatever, but right now we do still have that weird metal, we do still have more lawsuits and a crapload of paperwork to do before we can even open AIM again. So, yeah, I agree, but not right now.”

“That's fair,“ Peter said, “does anyone else have any ideas?” but everyone shook their heads. “Great, so, food?”

As eight pairs of eyes stared at him, with a different mood written plainly across their faces, he smiled, 

“Right, not food. Food after.”

Malisson

While I received some very helpful advice on how to get around something like the Socovia Accords I had always planned to use the end of X2 - X-Men United as a basis.

While a bit more aggressive than just leaving a notebook on the president's desk after scaring the crap out of him, it was still the same idea of "we are powerful enough to make you regret this. Don't push it."

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