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Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free. — Jim Morrison
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK
The last box is plucked from the moving van and Steve Rogers turns to peer up towards the pinnacle of the Baxter Building. Didn't we just leave this party? Squalor and an assassination attempt have had a funny way of bringing the good Captain full circle. Especially after the latter, circumstance has a funny way of providing some perspective on what is truly important. Everyone values security for themselves and the person they love.
"Captain Rogers!" says a man in a blue bell hop's outfit. But under the cap are a pair of thick glasses that seem to be propped up almost entirely by his thick white mustache. "I had no idea that you were moving in. Anything I can do to help?" Willie Lumpkin is always the kind of guy who will lend a hand, afterall.
"No, Mr. Lumpkin," Steve says with a grin. "This is the last box. I've got to get the television set up so I can watch the Presidential address."
"What do you think he's going to say?" the elder man asks tilting his head.
"Not really sure," Steve admits. "That's a tough speech to write. Mutants, Aliens, Asgardians. Think I'd rather be anyone else than him tonight."
DALLAS, TEXAS
DALLAS MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM AND CONVENTION CENTER
It seats nearly 10,000 a this point and was specifically the reason it was chosen. Just over a year ago President Kennedy had come to Texas and gave his speech about going to the moon. In it he talked about America's big dreams in one of its biggest states.
Skeptics have noted he spends so much time in Texas because it is vital to his re-election campaign. Without Texas this election, the Democrats are likely to lose. Supporters would say that here, in the middle of the country, the President's voice can be heard easiest by everyone, far away from the polish of Washington and the elites, to a place that speaks to what he sees as the future of America.
Either way, the MC has been giving updates. The President's plane has landed. The President is en route. The President has arrived. Momentarily there's a cheer from the crowd as there is some stirring behind the curtain, but rather than the Massachusetts born Navy Man, a parade of Act-F enrollees come out to stand on the bleachers behind where the President is about to give his address.
*
Alex really shouldn't be going to watch the President give his speech, he should stay home and watch it on TV. He really should have. But he couldn't help himself: the President is a catch (for Presidents), and he's such a good speaker. So when he got a ticket, he gave a big sigh, and flew down to Texas (ugh, Texas) and got himself packed into the auditorium. Fortunately, he doesn't get hot, otherwise he might be uncomfortable in there.
*
Somehow, some way, W-ILD - from all the way across the country - has gotten a camera in the room. Several guys in boiler suits are operating a somewhat outdated-looking movie camera, with a too-pretty Lady Reporter lurking nearby along with several other technical folks. Periodically they pan the crowd. This may be Alex's big opportunity to be on television.
*
Meredith McCorr — the famous actress, YOU KNOW — is in the VIP section of the crowd. She's never made any sort of political motions of any kind, so one would imagine that this is just a publicity buy by her studio, or the White House's attempt to sneak reportage of this speech into the celebrity pages. Either way, Meredith is wearing a shimmering sky blue dress, like she's attending an awards function, and is signing autographs for various other VIPs around her. When the Act-F enrollees come out, she pauses to watch, and then resumes signing things. Her signature is especially sloppy tonight.
*
…
FROST INSTITUTE: Some punk kid gives an upwards nod to Lorna, "Hey, watchya watchin?" Mutants are supposed to care about this sort of thing by design, but too many don't. Including this guy. "Is this that President thing? That's stupid." Pshaw.
WESTCHESTER
Inside the lounge of the Xavier Institute, Scott Summers is sitting in an oversized chair with a large back to it. Like most students at the school, he cares a lot about politics, especially mutant rights issues. Unlike most students he knows, he watches anything and everything he considers to be close to newsworthy. A speech outlining a new multi-national effort to protect Americans at home
He sits, as he has for the past 12 minutes, with his head propped by his thumb, braced by his arm, which digs into the rest at his right. His mouth never moves, his face never changes, and his glasses are always affixed to the television set as he waits, hoping that this President puts his effort where his mouth has always been. If he is for equality, he needs to show it fully now. But finally, Violet's commentary gets him to speak. "Can you please blow the smoke outside the window?"
…
Up on the stage, the lights shine down on the Black Panther, Johnny, Sue, Heather, Jennifer, and many others. Some with large followings, others with not so much. These seem to be the future of superheroing, defending America and the World from invasions. At least that's what the MC mentions every so often as we wait for the President
…
A plump woman sits next to Alex in one of the seats. She's wearing red white and blue sunglasses, waving a little American flag, and has a hat with a donkey on it. "I just love that President," she says to Alex with a big Texas smile. "He even wants to give the rights to those muties. I think we're ready for it, don't you?"
One of the people who runs the convention center approaches the reporter from W-ILD. "Anything we can get you? Ice water? Fans?" If the event looks good on TV, Dallas looks good. If Dallas looks good, then more people come to the convention center. Profit.
A member of the President's armed guard brushes by Meredith and gives her an all-too knowing nod. She's obviously been briefed on the plan.
…
Dealey Plaza is already filled with people. Nearly twice as many people as inside the auditorium, in truth. The parade route goes through a sharp turn and then down a hill, past a grassy knoll, shrouded by large buildings such as the Book Depository building.
That being said, from where Domino is it doesn't seem all that particularly crowded.
One this is for sure, Xavier, Erik, and Crystal will all find Texas to be rather hot compared to New York. As Xavier makes sweeps with his mind, nothing seems particularly out of the ordinary. Many people are talking about the weather in their minds, hoping that this won't last long, and wondering whether they should just leave and tell people they were here to see the President. Who would know?
…
*
DALLAS
A raucous crowd gives thunderous applause as the President emerges from behind the blue curtain with his arm outstretched in a high wave. He pauses a moment on his way to the podium to continue waving to his supporters, before he finally steps up to the microphone.
"Governor Connally, Senator Yarborough, Mayor Cabelle, and distinguished guests. Thank you for that welcome. It has been over a year since I have been to the great State of Texas, home of ingenuity, of freedom and independence, and above all else — in a moment where we so badly need it — a land of bravery.
"We are beset by all sides by those who would want us to wallow in the misery of fear, who push for us to act brazenly either as a show of strength or a reflexive action of cowardice, and by sinister forces, that we should continue to separate ourselves on divisions of genetics.
"I would attest to you, that while we do live in new and strange times, times full of the unknown and full of apprehension, that the United States has found higher and higher challenges over the course of its nearly two centuries and has conquered them all. Each generation, our maker tests us in ways we have never expected, and each time, American ingenuity and bravery have seen us through. Whether the threat of Nationalism, Communism, Invasion from without and within, or even the threat of Nuclear Holocaust comes upon us, our nation has shown an unalienable ability to see through fear and persevere.
"Behind me, the men and women recruited thus far for the Act-F Task Force come from a multitude of races and creeds, faiths and moral upbringings, and economic backgrounds. Mutants and non. Blacks and non. Christians and non. One group, united with other similar forces of the world to defend our planet from forces who would seek to mark you with fear.
"To those watching from somewhere far among the stars: It is our assumption you come in good faith. We are open to communicating with you, sharing information, and finding ways that we may both benefit from a relationship of peace.
"America's people have every right to be proud of the land they live in and the world they would like to see, just as other citizens of other nations feel about their lands. Our world takes a back seat to no others.
"May God Bless America and the rest of Planet Earth."
The President steps back from the podium and gives a nod and a wave to the crowd before he makes his way off the stage, shuffled into his car to get ready for the parade on Dealey Plaza.
*
Man, the last thing in the world Alex wants is to show up on TV, so if a camera swings towards the crowd and he sees it? He totally ducks a bit. It's bad enough that the freaking government knows he's a mutant, he doesn't want his face to even momentarily be on TV. When the woman settles down near him, he glances over to him and tries to smile a polite sort of smile, "Well, it's either give them rights or… there's nothing really else to do, huh? The Constitution doesn't have a 3/5ths clause for mutants." Then the President is speaking! And Alex leans forward avidly.
*
The camera turns on Alex as he seems uncomfortable. That seems like an interesting topic.
Miss Reporter turns to look at the convention flack and smiles at him. "Oh, no. We're fine. We're all fine." One of the cameramen seems about to speak - he seems sweaty, Miss Reporter doesn't. Miss Reporter cuts him off: "We're all fine." Smile, smile.
Then the camera turns forwards as the man himself comes up. From somewhere in the wings emerges a woman in a completely unneccessarily dramatic cloak, doubtless to ward off all of that Texas snow. "My," she says. "Just /look/ at him."
This woman, who is (spoilers) Spiral in a loose disguise, looks towards the conventionhall man. "You have those fans? I'll take a couple."
*
Meredith straightens up when she's grazed by one of the President's guards, then lets out a quiet breath and begins heading toward her seat. When the actress sits down, next to her is a wealthy party donor. "Doesn't he just remind you of one of the Royal Family?" Meredith leans in and asks, as the President takes the stage.
"…from England?" the donor asks.
"No, no, no," Meredith says, dismissing the UK's royals with a wave of her hand. "The /Boltagons/. Couldn't you just see him as one of them?"
"The /who/?" the donor replies, but Meredith abruptly ends the conversation to sit up straight and watch the speech. How much of it she took in, who knows, but she claps when she's supposed to.
*
…
FROST ACADEMY
"Lorna, come on. Let's shut this off and go drinking," the nameless guy persists. "You don't really care about this stuff, man, it's boring."
XAVIER INSTITUTE
"They're just words," Scott says, still barely moving. He's thankful for Violet moving and pointing the smoke outside, but he does seem rather grumpy all the same. "We've heard the words by the Supreme Court and still Black people don't always get to vote. We've heard the words by all sorts of these men in the past, and actions are always limited."
…
The party donor turns his head towards Meredith, looking perplexed. "What the hell is a Boltagon?" he says with upraised eyebrows. But, noticing her beauty, he is quick to put his arm around her and begins to whisper in her ear, eager to show her how they do things here in Texas.
But, before he can get to far, one of the security team nods to Meredith, and begins to show her to her 'other' car.
"Well, I'm sure he wants to give them a full vote!" the lady says to Alex, her smile growin' bigger.
"The world is changing!" She hands Alex a pamphlet that informs him how to donate to the Democratic National Committee.
"Right on it, Miss," says the convention host. He shuffles away to get some fans.
Surprisingly, right in front of them and some other television crews, the President walks by.
"Mr. President! What do you have to say to Loki, Prince of Asgard?"
"I'd ask how Asgard is this time of year."
"What do you say about him trying to force tolerance on our country."
"I'd say it's convenient he comes now, but not as convenient as it would have been for all those Jews during the Second World War. We could have used his intervention then," Kennedy's reply is said with a smile and a wave, and one of his handlers informs the television crews that he will be taking no more questions.
…
When the President exits the stage, one of his handlers approaches the assorted members of Act-F, "Alright everyone, we have several motorcades that will travel behind the President. For those of you who like being in the spotlight, there will be about a million cameras on you, so we would love it if you smiled and waved. Do whatever comes natural, of course." The motion towards the curtain which leads to a garage where several convertibles wait to take the heroes along the parade route. There are covered cars, too, for those who hate the limelight.
…
As Domino plots and charts, there's a tugging at Charles' mind. Inside the Book Depository, a man by the name of Lee Harvey Oswald is angry. He's spent a couple of years in the USSR and is a devout Communist. He hates Kennedy for his attacks on Communism. He hates all politicians, really, and has even gone so far as to promote his ideals to people when he lived in New Orleans. Oswald decides he cannot bear to watch and heads to the breakroom at his work to get a coca-cola. When he gets there, he turns off the radio, which is playing analysis about the speech.
"Course he is!" someone yells as they overhear Crystal's question to Xavier. "Come on Howard, we can get closer to see the President and all those heroes as they come by!" The family of four moves on closer to the street.
…
A short time later, the President, flanked by Jackie Kennedy, sits in a car with Governor Connally as they make their way down the parade route. With the breeze, Jackie remarks that it's much more lovely, and John is busy waving to the throngs of people who have come out to enjoy the speech.
…
MUTANT TOWN
"Buncha shit if you ask me," says one of the patrons to Remy LeBeau.
"Eh, give de guy a chance, non?" he lies. He's not interested in believing anything the government says, but being too loud in a place like this where the walls have ears is always dangerous.
"He fuckin' better do something!" yells another. "Mutants ain't gonna take much more of this shit!"
*
Alex takes the pamphlet, and blinks at the woman, "Well, good on him, like I said, the Constitution… you know." His attention is riveted on the President though, even as things have turned towards the Q&A format. He sighs, glancing aside to his neighbor, "Now I wish I was at the parade." Unfortunately, he is not a teleporter. Damnit.
*
As the President crosses near the cameras, the Lady Reporter raises her microphone upwards, the W-ILD camera pivoting as she struggles inwards, to try and get her question in - but it fails.
Behind the Lady Reporter, the white-haired woman aims instead to make eye contact with the President. Her lip quirks up as she mouths two words to JFK - 'call me' - and then grins. It's definitely an eye-catching grin, and fortunately, Mr. Kennedy will no doubt have greater things on his mind than the /predatory/ look of it.
Maybe. "Well, there he went," the white-haired woman says afterwards.
"Did I mess up?" asks the Lady Reporter, sounding small and lost.
"Badly," Spiral confirms.
*
Meredith listens to the Texan donor's proposition carefully, like she was hearing the terms of a car lease. She's interrupted from this consideration by a member of the armed guard, and puts her hands on the guard's arm to be led away.
As she walks with the guard, Meredith says, "I really respect him, you know? The Office of the President means so much to America, I think. Don't you think?" This occurs right in the vicinity of Spiral sentencing her Lady Reporter to death.
*
FROST ACADEMY
"Fine, suit yourself," the kid says. No one seems to know his name. However this jock itch idiot ever got into this school is anyone's guess. Luckily for Lor
XAVIER INSTITUTE:
Scott nearly recoils at being called Mr. Summers.
"Mr. Summers is my brother," The comment at least does enough to make the kid chuckle for the first time today. "I'd have him do more than promise to protect blacks in schools in the south. I'd have him act quicker on these mutant riots."
Yeah, he's a zealot.
"Wait, what's happening?"
…
A young girl with a large lolli and two pig tails watches the interchange between Spiral and the Reporter with surprise. "Mommy? I don't think I want to be a reporter anymore."
"Yeah, Meredith," says the Presidential security team member, "The President really hates it when you get philosophical.
"Honey, you need a ride to the parade?" the frumpy woman says to Alex. "Darlin' I'm a local, I know a shortcut. Follow me." She leads the older Summers brother on a weaving way to a side exit where her car is parked. "Get in!"
But as the pair are about to get into the car, shots begin to ring out.
POP POP POP
…
The motorcade follows the President, bringing Black Panther, Sue, Heather, and Johnny as Jennifer is walking alongside. It seems the government (the State of Texas, in this case) has spared no expense. It's an extended limousine with a pulled top. On the inside, the leather is white and nearly perfect. It really makes Black Panther's outfit stick out, and the blue of Johnny and Sue's pop. Speaking of popping…
…
Domino will see the first car, filled with the Governor of Texas, his wife, the President, and his wife. In the next car are a group of Act-F superheroes.
As Charles hones in on Oswald, he can see the young man sitting in the break room, arms over his chest, stewing. Everyone here so excited for a man who suppresses true economic freedom. It's bullshit. The entire system is bullshit, and Oswald cannot believe it's happening. Inwardly, he decides to go see a movie.
Erik and Crystal can now see the car turning down Dealey Plaza and picking up speed as it makes its way down the hill towards the Grassy Knoll, the bend, and towards the end of the parade.
Several people around them flinch as three bullets sound out from somewhere. With the angles of the buildings, it sounds as if the shots are coming from everywhere and from all different angles!
"
*
Alex gives a quick nod to the frumpy woman, and he moves to follow along, weaving past people and apologizing here or ther. A car? Well why certainly, Alex hops in— and then the gunfire rings out, "Oh shit." he breathes
*
Nothing bad happens to the Lady Reporter, not just yet. Especially when -
Gunfire! The entire little crew whips into action, the camera spinning swiftly to point in that direction on reflex. "Maybe you're going to save yourself," Spiral muses. "Why don't you go see what happened?" The Lady Reporter breaks into a run; Spiral strolls after her, the hem of her fancy cloak trailing gently.
*
About four cars back from where the real action is, Meredith McCorr is sitting with her guard. She seems kind of bored, but then again, she usually seems like she's not completely involved in what's going on anyway. Occasionally, she looks out the tinted window of the car, but it's not until Things Get Real that she returns to planet Earth.
"What's going on?" Meredith asks the guard, not panicking yet, but very confused.
*
At both the Frost Academy and the Xavier Institute, it's tough to see what is happening. The news cuts away, revealing a man in a rumpled suit, desperately trying to get more information from a source on the ground.
"We have reports of shots being fired on the parade route," he says. "We're trying to get more information.
…
As the shots ring out, T'Challa leaps impressively from one car all the way to the President's car. She's followed almost as quickly by Jennifer, who turns green and burly rather quickly. Meanwhile, Sue is putting up a blanket of clear energy trying to put a protective cocoon between the President's car and the rest of the people out here.
…
As the shots ring out, Magneto sends a burst of pressure that takes all metal and shoots it outward. Unfortunately, many of the citizens alongside the parade route are hit with metallic debris. For days they will be pulling screws out of people's knees, keys out of people's eyes, and those are the lucky ones. One particularly terrible incident is a baby that has been impaled by a hubcap and will be in surgery over the course of the next few days. The consequences that he did not think about seem to be pretty severe.
Xavier searches around and cannot find anyone who seems to have wanted to harm the President, everyone is in shock, and that young man he noticed before is headed out of Dealey Plaza and down the street.
…
Lee Harvey Oswald is going to go to a movie but forgot his keys up in the floor where he works.
But as he walks down the hallway, he stops cold. There, at the end of the hall, is someone who looks exactly like him.
He can hardly believe it, and before he can do anything, the doppelganger exits out the back door.
…
It just so happens that Johnny Storm happens to see someone, from his vantage point, running from out back behind the observatory. A young man is walking calmly. He's wearing a leather jacket, white t-shirt, and blue jeans, and is headed east.
Down, below T'Challa's arms, sits the President. But rather than the bullet holes she may have been inspected, it almost looks like he has been burned through the shoulder and through the back of the head. Almost as if he was struck by lightning.
"
*
Alex is running, running and pushing through people— there's really nothing he can do, he was absolutely in the worst possible place to have an effect here, but he runs anyways. He knows some of the other X-Men are out there, and its time to group up. Seriously.
*
Most of the W-ILD crew topples over at that distant magnetic pulse; the camera makes a very strange noise as it falls, though the camera/operators/ do not seem greatly alarmed. More pointed might be the Lady Reporter, who lets out a scream (at what?) and the white-haired woman, who simply went down, apparently with surprise. Not all the way, though; she seems to have caught herself /quite/ adequately beneath all that satin.
At least they aren't HUBCAP BABY.
*
The fourth car back feels safe, until Meredith's earrings rip out of her ears so violently that one lobe is savagely torn. At the same time, the magnetic pulse makes the car itself move, although it doesn't go flying or flipping. Still. She screams, clutching the sides of her head and falling to the floor of the car. "What's happening?!" Meredith cries out, now beginning to panic.
Meredith turns to look at the guard who was accompanying her, who has been felled by an earring right between the eyes, as perfect as any sniper's shot. Meredith screams again.
*
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
At a small hole in the wall BBQ joint, Bruce Banner is trying to get some food in his stomach with some of the money he was given by a man who took him for a beggar. He has enough change for a sandwich and orders such with a glass of water.
"Could you turn the television up?" asks Banner.
At first, it seems as though he's ignored.
"Please?!?!" Banner shouts out angrily enough to surprise the people eating at other tables. He breathes slowly and tries to calm himself.
XAVIER INSTITUTE
Scott sits up in his chair and looks to Violet as things have gone from bad to worse. "Is he hit? What happened?" And then, as if he too needs some consoling, Scott pets the dog almost out of reflex.
DEALEY PLAZA - GRASSY KNOLL
Alex arrives, just behind Xavier, Erik, and Crystal as the motorcade has now already driven by. People are screaming, and crying, and a great deal of people are injured on the ground all around them. If Alex looks to his left, back towards the bend in the road, he'll see a similar sight of people laying on the ground in agony.
Luckily, well for the mutants anyways, Xavier mentally pushes everyone's thought away from their group. The fingers will be pointed elsewhere. As they stand there, Alex, Xavier, Crystal holding Erik's unconscious body, it's clear that they need to get out of Dodge. And quickly.
FROST ACADEMY
The news comes through as Lorna's classmates begin to sob. "We can confirm that the President was hit. We are trying to get further details, but our eye on the ground can confirm that the President has been hit." The sobbing begins to get louder.
DEALEY PLAZA — MOTORCADE
One of Magneto's victims is the secret service agent next to Meredith, who slumps over her, bleeding heavily, dead from her earring which was ripped out of her ear. The metal inside the steering wheel jerks heavily, sending the car careening into a retaining wall where it mercifully comes to a stop.
The car that now holds Black Panther, the President, Connally who also looks to have been hit, Jackie Kennedy, Jennifer Walters, and Mrs. Connally races around the bend, heading to the hospital as quickly as possible.
DEALEY PLAZA - EAST OF THE BOOK DEPOSITORY
Johnny Storm slams into the body of the young man and piles him into the ground. He rolls over and his hands are up. Immediately he shapeshifts into a man with black hair. "I am Loki of Asgard!" he announces. "I am a Prince!"
"As an American citizen, I would like to speak with my lawyer!"
EPILOGUE: https://youtu.be/6PXORQE5-CY?t=1m11s
*