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ya_assemble2015-04-05 12:22 am
holyscoopbatman) wrote in ya_assemble2015-04-05 12:22 am
Entry tags:
[AI] It begins
The Defenders: A "Just-Us" Society?
by Sally Floyd
Every week brings new challenges to the Post-Cataclysm world we live in but the recent actions of the Defenders have left the public wondering if the team is up for the challenge - and if they think they're above the law. A solid week of questionable actions started with a tantrum by the younger Blue Beetle, usually polite and soft-spoken in his appearances, caught on youtube yelling at a freelance journalist and breaking his camera.
While the incident could perhaps be written off as the actions of a hero under heavy pressure having a rare moment of ill temper, Blue Beetle has regularly been seen working with the joint US-Mexican coalition in the fight against the drug cartels in Juarez and El Paso, is the Young Allies' official liaison chairperson, and has been spotted fighting crises around the world on a daily basis. With the hero balancing such a full plate, it begs the question of whether or not the Defenders are putting undo pressure on already unstable individuals or pushing their younger heroes too heavily into the line of fire. The Defenders are so secretive at times, one must question whether or not the sidekicks that have gone missing from the Young Allies have actually returned to the Crisis like they claim.
This alone wouldn't be that alarming if it weren't for other recent actions by members of the team. According to representatives of The Avengers, the recent appearance of both Hawkeyes was fraught with conflict. After a briefing by hero Iron Man on the state of the world post-Cataclysm, the two heroes reportedly broke a window in Avengers Tower, leaving civilians below at risk of falling glass, and ziplined away from the Tower. The two were immediately accepted onto the Defenders without any public reprimand or comment, despite their reckless actions.
Perhaps most disquieting was the team's recent actions upon the return to Earth of the superhero Nova. According to Avengers representatives the dangerous metahuman, currently a Defender and formerly a New Warrior, was mentally unstable due to a psionic attack by a Starro. While unstable, the hero was responsible for causing property damage at the 8th Street Soup Kitchen due to an uncontrolled release of his powers.
Instead of assisting the Avengers in escorting the hero to a secure HAMMER facility where he could receive care, the Defenders on scene - Justice, Ricochet, Hulkling, and Martian Manhunter - interfered in the Avengers' attempt at securing Nova's surrender. Martian Manhunter reportedly psychically restarted the supercomputer residing in the hero's mind, an act that could have led to an unstable lashing out of his powers. According to the scale used by HAMMER, and formerly SHIELD, to classify planetary threats, Nova registers as a class 12 worldwide threat due to his power levels.
"Nova was clearly not in his right mind after the Starro attack," Norman Osborn stated in a recent press released. "He had already caused some damage to Central Park and damage to the 8th Street Soup Kitchen, who had called in the authorities for assistance. Rather than cooperating with authorities, the Defenders disregarded our attempt to bring Mr. Ryder in for treatment and then made a very risky move with an unknown and powerful piece of alien technology implanted in his head. The outburst of uncontrolled power that could have resulted from their actions was averted only by sheer luck, but one day, that kind of luck will run out, and we've already seen what happens then."
With the specter of Stamford and the actions of other New Warriors still looming in the memories of half the population, one wonders if indeed, the Defenders' luck will hold out. One thing remains clear: apparently the Defenders feel that they only have to operate under their own rules.
by Sally Floyd
Every week brings new challenges to the Post-Cataclysm world we live in but the recent actions of the Defenders have left the public wondering if the team is up for the challenge - and if they think they're above the law. A solid week of questionable actions started with a tantrum by the younger Blue Beetle, usually polite and soft-spoken in his appearances, caught on youtube yelling at a freelance journalist and breaking his camera.
While the incident could perhaps be written off as the actions of a hero under heavy pressure having a rare moment of ill temper, Blue Beetle has regularly been seen working with the joint US-Mexican coalition in the fight against the drug cartels in Juarez and El Paso, is the Young Allies' official liaison chairperson, and has been spotted fighting crises around the world on a daily basis. With the hero balancing such a full plate, it begs the question of whether or not the Defenders are putting undo pressure on already unstable individuals or pushing their younger heroes too heavily into the line of fire. The Defenders are so secretive at times, one must question whether or not the sidekicks that have gone missing from the Young Allies have actually returned to the Crisis like they claim.
This alone wouldn't be that alarming if it weren't for other recent actions by members of the team. According to representatives of The Avengers, the recent appearance of both Hawkeyes was fraught with conflict. After a briefing by hero Iron Man on the state of the world post-Cataclysm, the two heroes reportedly broke a window in Avengers Tower, leaving civilians below at risk of falling glass, and ziplined away from the Tower. The two were immediately accepted onto the Defenders without any public reprimand or comment, despite their reckless actions.
Perhaps most disquieting was the team's recent actions upon the return to Earth of the superhero Nova. According to Avengers representatives the dangerous metahuman, currently a Defender and formerly a New Warrior, was mentally unstable due to a psionic attack by a Starro. While unstable, the hero was responsible for causing property damage at the 8th Street Soup Kitchen due to an uncontrolled release of his powers.
Instead of assisting the Avengers in escorting the hero to a secure HAMMER facility where he could receive care, the Defenders on scene - Justice, Ricochet, Hulkling, and Martian Manhunter - interfered in the Avengers' attempt at securing Nova's surrender. Martian Manhunter reportedly psychically restarted the supercomputer residing in the hero's mind, an act that could have led to an unstable lashing out of his powers. According to the scale used by HAMMER, and formerly SHIELD, to classify planetary threats, Nova registers as a class 12 worldwide threat due to his power levels.
"Nova was clearly not in his right mind after the Starro attack," Norman Osborn stated in a recent press released. "He had already caused some damage to Central Park and damage to the 8th Street Soup Kitchen, who had called in the authorities for assistance. Rather than cooperating with authorities, the Defenders disregarded our attempt to bring Mr. Ryder in for treatment and then made a very risky move with an unknown and powerful piece of alien technology implanted in his head. The outburst of uncontrolled power that could have resulted from their actions was averted only by sheer luck, but one day, that kind of luck will run out, and we've already seen what happens then."
With the specter of Stamford and the actions of other New Warriors still looming in the memories of half the population, one wonders if indeed, the Defenders' luck will hold out. One thing remains clear: apparently the Defenders feel that they only have to operate under their own rules.
no subject
That was the normal range of human emotions and all.
"As for the registration issues, ultimately, I was very conflicted on it because even though my secret ID had been compromised by the New Warriors hate site, I knew a lot of people who were afraid their secret IDs being public would get their families killed. But on the same token, I had friends that'd registered and understood why the public wanted accountability. I wasn't sure I wanted to be on the Initiative when they were still hunting unregistered people down so...I left. I checked out and went back to space. I figured I'd come back someday when the conflict had died down a little more and register if it was still the law, but I figured there was a lot of good I could do in space after the Wave, so I focused on that for a while."
no subject
cw: suicide, cw: dead kids
"All I can say is that I feel compassion for the victims and their families. I don't know what else is expected of me." A pause and he added honestly. "Although given what I've seen of public opinion, I'd hazard a guess that what people want is for me to flagellate myself and apologize for something I wasn't responsible for. Guilt by association, right?"
He sat forward.
"I was proud of being a New Warrior. I still am at least proud of what good we did do because we saved the world more than once. But I left before that went down. I wasn't comfortable with the producers calling so many shots in our superhero fights and told Thrash I felt like the focus had strayed too much from just doing our damn jobs protecting people."
For once in his life, the spotlight had made him uncomfortable. Justifiably so, apparently. Go figure.
"So when they called me back up to Xandar I went without a second thought." He tapped his own chest. "So if you're expecting guilt and self-recrimination, that's not happening anytime soon. And with this whole thing that keeps happening, people throwing dead kids in my face like I'm not caring enough...Look, I understand the tragedy of it, it's just there's a point in the last few years where I had to stop letting the thought of lost innocents overpower me so I could keep moving forward and do my job."
He leaned forward.
"I even even remember the day. It was when the nursery creches of Xintar 5 got knocked into their sun by the Annihilation Wave, despite the efforts of the United Front and the Xintarian military in trying to stop it. Over the comm lines we could hear the kids screaming and crying in the background of the distress calls by their caretakers. Millions of them. After the creches burned up, we lost half the Xintarians because they started running suicide runs into the sun because they couldn't bear the thought of living without their children."
There was dead silence now to match the quietness of his voice. It was lowered the way his father had always lowered it when he was at his most serious, when he was saying something important.
"If I seem at all aloof or cold about the kids at Stamford it's just that - it's that when you see dead kids by the shipload, if you let it get to you that hard every time, you can't do the job. I have to push past it to do my job and make sure things like that don't happen to kids again if I can ever stop it."
He pointed at her. "I keep getting those questions about the Stamford kids. Constantly. And while I feel for their families, with all due respect, Ms. Floyd, you'll have the right to throw dead kids in my face after you've had to crawl out from under a heap of rubble and the bodies of civilians on a world that died around you. Or when you fly in to save a school and can't tell how many kids used to be there because giant space bugs already reduced them to parts. So."
He sat back.
"That's all I have to say." He added, "Any more questions, Ms. Floyd?"
She was silent in response. Silent and pale.
"That's what I thought."
Nova took advantage of the silence to stand up.
"I'm done for the day. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain a few things. You can direct any other questions to the Defenders' public relations team."
no subject
no subject
"One more."
Just one. That was all he had left today.
He suddenly felt very, very tired.
no subject
no subject
"Three months. If Phyla and I hadn't stopped it there, it would've hit Earth in three months' time. Possibly even less if the guerrilla cells hadn't been able to slow it down on its way."
With that, he took to the air and flew back to the tower, leaving the tower staff to close up shop at the press briefing and pack everything up.
no subject
For a moment, he wondered how many seemingly unknowable things existed out there in the void.
It only lasted a moment.
"God, I need a drink."
Next to him, Sally just started nodding frantically in agreement as she silently walked away.