The Metahuman Agency: The Superhuman War

Circle of Friends

A familiar beep sounded through the plane, before a TV set unfurled from The Panther's ceiling. It turned on, crackling to life, and Jason grinned broadly.

"Fuck yeah!" He cried, pumping a fist in the air. "That's why I'm talking about!"

"Guess Max was telling the truth after all," Laureen replied, also grinning. She then frowned. "I guess there was no good reason the rest of us weren't briefed on this stuff..."

Audrey pointed at the TV screen. "Stop complaining," She said lightly. "Something good happened and we should celebrate that. Don't keep badgering on Max."

Jason nodded and Laureen nodded as well. "Alright," She said, rising and approaching the TV. "You're right, more important things to focus on for sure. So...let's see..."

Jason moved behind and glanced at the screen. He'd never really paid attention to it before, except when the Director was on it, but now he could see there was a touchscreen on it with multiple categories listed. The categories included: "WHITE HOUSE," "AGENCY PERSONNEL," "MILITARY COMMAND," and more.

"Hmmm," Laureen raised a hand. "Lots of choices but..." She pressed AGENCY PERSONNEL. A list of names appeared in alphabetical order. Jason watched as Laureen scrolled through before Axel's name up. She grinned.

"Easy enough. Okay, here we fucking go..." She pressed his name. Everyone stared at the TV as it suddenly went white and the image of a phone appeared on it. The screen began to ring before there was a clicking noise.

The picture came into focus and Axel's face appeared. He was sitting at a desk of some kind inside a white room. He looked quite exhausted, his normally clean face sporting a five o' clock shadow and his eyes were bloodshot. He raised an eyebrow as he took them in.

"Well, well," He chuckled. "Seems you all are quite resourceful. Although its less surprising on The Panther than from a civilian line." He looked over them all. "Jason, Laureen, Audrey, and Hiroshi..." He craned his neck. "And I see James is back there. Seems the whole gang is here, huh...except Max. Where is he?"

"Outside," Laureen reported. "He's still not exactly doing well but he did show us how to contact you, so I guess that's a plus."

Axel nodded, leaning back in his chair. "Well, I'm just glad the lot of you are safe. It's been...hectic around here and my nerves are just about at their breaking point. But seeing you all here now should calm them...for a bit. How are you lot feeling?"

"Sore," Jason said.

"I was tired and hungry but I'm okay now!" Hiroshi piped up. "That burger must have had, like, tons of energy stuff in it."

Laureen gave Hiroshi a look but replied to Axel: "Shit man, I feel physically okay but mentally is a whole other goddamn ballpark. It's been...a hellish couple of days."

Audrey just nodded in agreement.

Axel snorted and wiped his head. "Hellish," He said, letting out a long breath. "I suppose that's one way of describing it. Personally, I was thinking 'apocalyptic'. God..." He leaned closer to the camera, looking on the verge of sudden collapse, exhaustion practically painted on his features. "The military has begun sweeping through the wreckage of the Agency. I've been mostly locked out of the sweep but I saw a few images of the insides." He shook his head. "I've seen some horrific things...but what transpired down there looked like hell on earth. You're all very lucky you survived."

Jason's throat went tight. "...Yeah," He muttered, "We sure are lucky. Too bad about the tons of people who got butchered down there." He grinded his teeth together. "But we escaped...we escaped..." He said it bitterly, reflecting once again all the people they had practically abandoned to their deaths, all the people they had failed to save. 'Lucky.' Yeah. Right.