Chapter 53: Tricell
I watched Lex and Mercy leave the building and I placed an earpiece into my right ear. “Sir I would advise against giving Mr Luthor to many benefits” Red Queen said to me through the earpiece.
“I know, has the data package ready?” I said walking to the elevator.
“Yes sir the data package is ready to be uploaded after the President’s address to the nation. The list you also wanted has be compiled and is awaiting your inspection.” I nodded slightly as I pressed the elevator button numbered forty. It was a short elevator journey as I brushed my white hair with a comb I kept in my breast pocket. The floor was relatively busy with the plaga controlled humans working on separate tasks.
A small mechanical arm handed me a tablet with a list of names and pictures. ‘If Tricell is to be a major terrorist organisation it needs powerful muscles’ I thought as I looked down the names. “Kraven, Crossbones, Taskmaster, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Deathstroke and Clock King. These should be recruited with top priority.” I then switched the page to the news app that was streaming the President’s address to the nation and most likely the world.
The President was standing in a suit with a solum look on his face. The Whitehouse was in the back ground looking as majestic as always. “My fellow Americans I stand here after a dark shadow was cast upon us. Yesterday on Valentine’s day a terrorist group calling themselves Tricell released a chemical agent on the Valentine’s day parade in New York City. The death toll caused by this atrocity is in the millions and this saddens me deeply. But this isn’t the end, to Doctor Animo if you are watching, we are coming for you. The full might of the American Nation will now focus on finding and bringing this man and his group to justice. We will be working with our allies to stop this threat before any more innocent lives are lost to this new menace”
The feed cut back to two news presenters they were an old man with greying hair and a youngish woman with long blonde hair. The woman was doing her best to not burst into tears. “That was the President’s address to the nation” the man said. “The attack today has been compared to Nine Eleven that struck New York City as well. The current state of the city is surprisingly good with a company called the Umbrella Corporation deploying their security services to maintain order in the face of the devastation that befell the police.”
The woman wiped a tear from her face “Thanks to the efforts of the Umbrella Security Service and the heroes the damage was mitigated but a large portion of the city was destroyed in a battle between several heroes and the leader of Tricell. The battle ended with the heroes able to drive him away.” The man took over speaking.
“And in other news the CEO of Vought has been hounded by the press with questions about why most of the seven weren’t trying to help the civilian’s during this attack. This is how they responded” the footage changed to show Madelyn Stillwell being followed by many cameras.
“Miss Stillwell can we have a comment on why Vought International didn’t step in to help the people of New York” several people screeched. Cameras flashed at the small blonde haired woman.
“The Deep was helping contain an oil spill off the coast, Translucent has been doing recon work in an operation we can’t disclose as of yet, Black Noir is also on that operation, Queen Maeve was on the other side of the country making a visit to terminally ill fans. Homelander was also visiting terminally ill fans, and Lamplighter has only just retired from service and moved away to be with his family. And to the loyal fans of A-Train he died a hero trying to save people.” As she said this she turned and left through the doors of Vought Tower.
“Wow they are so good at making up bullshit on the spot” I laughed. I put on my Doctor Animo disguise and changed my body “Red Queen begin the operation”.
“Certainly sir” My background changed drastically thanks to holographic projection. Instead of being in a lab with blacked out windows I was instead in an office with lavish furniture. A screen in front of me showed the news presenters.
“We have a video caller, hello who might you be”
“This is Doctor Animo leader of Tricell” I watched the presenters faces go from calm to absolute shock. “Yesterday’s attack is the first of many, I will now allow you an exclusive interview so make your questions count.”
“Please could you tell us your reasoning for this attack?” Asked the man who had someone whisper something into his ear. I gestured extravagantly in my uniform before answering.
“The reason behind my attack is simple, Humanity has grown soft. We will not survive the next evolutionary catechism, well those with abilities probably will but the rest won’t”
“So you’re telling us and the American people that this travesty was to help them” the man interrupted with an angry expression.
“First I don’t like being interrupted Mr Hatchins”
“I’m sorry please continue” he quickly apologised and I sighed.
“Secondly yes I committed this so called travesty to test my creations” the man and woman looked perplexed at my answer. “More tests are to come and they aren’t limited to this country, Tricell has spent decades secretly building up our operations in over a hundred countries” I heard the live audience of the news gasp at the same time. “And to that liar Madelyn Stillwell, Vought is going to be destroyed by my hands because you couldn’t tell the truth.”
“Why do you say this?” The man asked again whilst nervously shuffling his papers.
“Well her statement about those dumb asses the so called Seven are all lies. The Deep wasn’t containing an oil spill” I began laughing loudly. “The tosser was fucking some fish in his private aquarium, Homelander was high as a fucking kite and Queen Maeve was getting her hair done and fled when the bombs went off. Lamplighter didn’t retire to be with his family, he doesn’t have one, but I won’t spoil his truth just yet. And that Bargain Bin Speedster was no hero either he was trying to flee as well. Translucent and Black Noir’s so called secret operation is them trying to find a group calling themselves The Boys who like me are trying to expose the Company’s dark secrets ergh those idiots don’t deserve the title of heroes. I will ask you this question why do you think the Wayne killer’s hasn’t been found”. The man and woman both looked at me in confusion. “The young master Bruce Wane reported to the police that a man clad in all black approached his family in Crime Alley and demanded that Martha Wayne give up her pearl necklace.
The woman hands it over but the assailant shot her first before being attacked by Thomas Wayne who tried to disarm the attacker. Thomas wasn’t a push over by any means and had taken many self defence courses especially when it came to disarming armed attackers.” I gestured slightly with my arms raised as I spoke with the heavy German accent. “The bones in his arms were snapped by some with super strength before being shot. But why did the attacker leave a child you may be asking yourself. If this was meant to be an assassination why didn’t the killer murder the young Bruce Wane. It’s simple who do we know on the Seven that wears all black, has a certain degree of super strength, who could skilfully avoid the police like a ninja and has a soft spot for children?”
“Are you accusing Black Noir of being the Wayne’s killer Mr Animo?” The man looked perplexed at my speech.
“Yes I am Mr Hatchins, next I will tell you about why the Wayne’s were killed. The answer is very simple they knew about the founder’s dark past the company’s secrets and they weren’t happy about it and threatened to go public. What secrets you may ask simple, Vought’s so called heroes are man made. Quirks, Metahuman’s, Mutants are some of the names give to those who are naturally born with these powers. They get their powers from a special gene in them that can lay dormant in some people until certain conditions are met. That’s why you some times hear of people throwing themselves against electric fence’s or off of buildings and then gaining the powers of flight or to shoot electricity from their fingers. But Vought’s heroes aren’t natural and are created through the use of a chemical agent called Compound V.” The man and woman just nodded “I will give you a little history lesson. The year is nineteen forty two a young and plucky Steve Rodgers is given a chance to serve his country as a test subject to an experimental agent.
The result the world’s first artificial superhero, he trains with his life long friend Bucky Barnes before being deployed in actual combat. He encounters the lady legend that is Wonder Woman and together they founded the Howling Commandos. After the events that caused Captain America to be frozen the unit was disbanded. Operation Paperclip took in Nazi scientists, in exchange for their research they were given asylum in this country or a reduced sentence. One such Nazi was Fredric Vought who in his quest to give Hitler a Super soldier like Captain America instead made something much more deadly.” The man and woman looked gobsmacked and I couldn’t blame them.
“Now we skip a few decades ahead during the plight of the Cold War a Super Hero team by the name of Payback was making big strides in popularity. Solving situations that a regular policeman couldn’t. So the wise guys in power decided why don’t we start using them to win us wars. Many disagreed with the idea as it could cause serious problems if they ever went rouge or got captured. But with rising tensions and with the Soviets using their own naturally occurring and some man made enhanced individuals the bug wigs up top decided to give the team Payback a chance. That massively backfired with Solider Boy being captured by the Soviets. Vought instead of telling the truth about what befell their beloved hero instead said he died stopping a nuclear meltdown. Now the end of this little history lesson during the end of the Vietnam war all major powers pressured all other countries sign the Meta Human Combat Legislation. It stopped the use of Meta’s in the use of military combat. This was met by heavy resistance from groups as it paved way to oppression of the Meta’s in other countries. The Meta Liberation Army was formed as a result with the founding leaders being the Mutant calling himself Magneto and another calling himself Destro.” I looked at the camera “thank you for listening to this” I was about to cut the feed.
“Could you please explain how you know these things if they are true you must have proof right.” The female news anchor asked in a panicked manner.
“Well of course I have proof but I will release it when the time is right. As to why I know this I can thank my father Doctor Hanz Animo. He to was a Nazi scientist working on a similar product. This wasn’t to create super soldiers it was to evolve the human body past its primitive state.” I clapped my hands and the feed was cut and the hologram was deactivated.
That was marvellously done Host but you can’t dawdle two new missions have emerged. |
New Mission: Vought Entertainment Entertainment is a good chunk of their money making and they think they are the best at it. Knock them off that perch and rob them of that income. Mission: Create a piece of media that has more views than anything Vought has for three weeks in a row. Rewards: Continuation of this storyline mission, Special Shop Function unlocked. |
Storyline Mission: The downfall of Vought part 2 Thanks to your B.O.W attack faith in Vought heroes has begun to show cracks, let’s make it worse. Mission: Decrease faith in Vought superheroes by any means necessary. Faith: 80/100 (Needed: 40/100) Rewards: Continuation of this storyline mission, 10,000 RE points, Mutation Upgrade Card |
I sighed “the grind is never over is it, Red Queen is the surprise in Colombia set up yet for Mr Krauser?”
“Yes sir it is and we have an appointment with the President of Colombia on the day.” I nodded and smiled as the world was going to devour itself.