Chapter 108: Chapter 108: UN General Assembly
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While Edward sat down, Pop snorted, "I didn't think I would be having a customer today, is it really the best time for a haircut?"
Edward smiled at the question, glancing toward the TV as he replied, "I have something important today, and I need to look good. I can't go there with messy hair."
Pop shook his head with a sigh, "How unlucky, to have something today, you are going to miss the most important day of the century!"
Currently, only Pop, Luke and Edward were in the shop. The streets were nearly empty as everyone had rushed home or in the bars, to watch the broadcasted General Assembly.
As Luke started working on his hair, Edward asked, "Do you think he is going to show up?"
Luke, as always remained silent, but still nodded slightly. As for Pop, he laughed, "Of course he is! That's Serenity we're talking about. His name is a little girly, but if someone has the balls to speak in front of the leaders of the entire world, it's him!"
Edward smiled a little at that, and stopped talking as the General Assembly officially started. The master of ceremony, an old man, said, "Good Morning, your Excellencies. It is my pleasure to welcome you all to today's exceptional General Assembly.
"My name is Alan, and I will be your emcee for today. Without any further ado, I welcome to the stage Mr Alexander Pierce, Secretary of Defence of the United States! Please give him a warm welcome."
The leaders of the different powers in the room clapped their hands, a select few withstanding from doing so though, all of whom were leaders of countries with strained relationships with the US.
From the crowd, a man stood up and walked to the stage. He was a well kept elder, slightly taller than average and sporting a cheering smile as he took the stage. The camera zoomed on his face as he started his speech.
"For more than a year now, we have watched, a little helpless, as individuals of super human powers rose all over the globe, some with good intentions, others with more selfish ones. For too long we have ignored them, and so this General Assembly was exceptionally called today.
"More than thirty thousand Supers have already been registered across the globe, and more appear everyday. I am not afraid to say that this, is a problem."
The people in the room showed various reactions, while Pop snorted, "He can say whatever he wants, we already know they've been keeping aliens in Area 51 for years. 'They suddenly appeared' my ass!"
Edward smiled, but said nothing as Pierce wasn't finished.
"I know many won't be happy with my words, but it is the truth. While some of those Super individuals have done a lot of good, the majority serve themselves, not others. Since the 1st of January, 124 734 crimes have been reported involving a Super Individual. A tenth of those included innocent casualties."
His tone became a little sombre as he continued, "Yes, a few unremarkable individuals stood out, did nothing but good, but how many lives do we need to sacrifice before we take measures, just to satisfy the ego of those so called heroes?"
Alexander Pierce then continued delivering a bunch of numbers, stats and had a lot to say against the arrival of Supers in society. After more than 20 minutes, he finally ended his speech.
As Pierce returned to his seat, the emcee said, "This was a very enlightening speech, but it would not be fair to decide of the Supers' future without letting them speak for themselves. As Mr Pierce said, a few of them stood out for their bravery and selflessness in their actions, and one such person is the individual known as Serenity.
"I would thus like to invite him to the stage, to speak before the world, for the world listens."
Edward looked at Luke and Pop, who both stared at the screen without blinking. His hair cut was already done, so Edward finally stood up as his clothes changed to become the Serenity armor.
The eyes of both Luke and Pop both tore away from the screen as they looked at Edward with wide eyes. Smiling under the mask, Edward opened a portal and walked through it.
Throughout the world, people watched in awe through their screen as they saw a portal appear on the stage, and saw Serenity walk through it.
The people in the room all began to whisper to one another, creating quite the chaos. Before long though, the stunned emcee, Alan, brought down his hammer as he exclaimed, "Order in the room! Order!"
The leaders of the world stopped talking as every pair of eyes settled on Edward, who had his hands in his back, his head slowly turning as he seemed to examine everyone in the room.
But as he arrived, Edward didn't really need to look at them, his Chi Sense enveloped them all. And as it did, he felt something troubling. Most of the people in the room were normal people, but there was one presence in the room, one person of incredible might.
He wasn't one of the countries' leaders, but instead a journalist, standing in the back of the room. The reason Edward paid attention to him, was that his Chi felt as strong as Thor, if not a little stronger.
At first, Edward thought about a god who intended to turn the General Assembly into a bloodbath, but the moment he appeared Edward felt respect and awe come from the man. But more importantly, the man seemed to exude kindness…
It felt a little strange, but Edward decided to say nothing, as he didn't detect any danger, for now. Keeping a part of his attention onto the strong journalist, Edward looked at the rest of the assembly, and finally spoke.
"Mr Pierce made a few valid points, but I think there's been a misunderstanding here."
Edward only said a few words, but everyone in the room tensed. The man had just teleported here, and the first thing he said didn't bode well for them.
Slightly twirling his finger, a flame appeared on top of it, and Edward continued, "I am a Super, as people like to call us nowadays. I'm sure all the people here know this, but for the sake of those at home, I would like to precise there are several types of Supers.
"Mutants, Mutates and Naturals are the three categories I like to classify Supers into. For Mutants and Mutates, their powers came to them later in life, but they were all born as normal humans. Naturals are those who were born with their power, and you are vastly underestimating them.
"I think I'm not mistaken if I say the Trondheim Incident is what made me famous. For those who forgot, other than the brave soldiers of the army, another person came to help me."
The emcee questioned, "Are you referring to the man calling himself Thor?"
Edward nodded, "Yes, him. And it seems you still haven't understood, he is no man. He is the God of Lightning. He has lived for more than a thousand years, he is a nearly immortal warrior capable of destroying any weapon you can create. And there are many more like him."
Frowns appeared on the faces of the different leaders, but Edward continued, "Mr Pierce, you used the word 'contain' a lot, and if we follow your ideas, I believe your solution would be to put the Supers around the world under the authority of their respective governments. Am I wrong?"
"This is indeed my intentions. Of course, not all Supers would have to fight for their country, but those who do should do so under a qualified supervision. Unmasked, too." Pierce replied, his voice sharp.
Edward shook his head at those words though, "I must say, I completely disagree with everything you just said.
"First, the power of Supers shouldn't all be used to fight, they aren't weapons. Wouldn't a Super capable of manipulating flames be as valuable as a fire fighter than as a soldier? You, Mr Pierce, and everyone in this room, are greedy and want to control the power that appeared."
Edward felt great anger rise from nearly everyone in the room, but Pierce didn't look that much phased as he countered, "We are here to debate, and yet you insult us. What do you even intend to do, leave all the Supers unsupervised?"
"No, of course not. I do intend to put them under supervision, but not your supervision, mine."
Even Pierce looked outraged now, and he nearly yelled in his mic, "You accuse us of being greedy, but aren't you trying to hog in everything for yourself? Besides, do you really think this is feasible? Do you think the governments of the world and it's people will let you create a tyranny? You don't even dare to show your face, coward!"
Many in the room echoed Pierce's words, and chaos set in the room. The emcee looked like he didn't want to leave Edward the opportunity to defend either as he didn't try to bring calm back to the room.
Edward merely smiled though, and with a Chi powered voice he said, "I can see you are trying to provoke me into pulling off my mask, Mr Pierce. It would be much easier for you to control me if you knew my identity, after all."
"But once again, you are mistaken. I am not afraid of you, or what you can do."
As Edward said that, everyone in the room stopped talking, forced to listen to Edward because of his charisma, and watched as the armor around him turned into a suit, and revealed a young face, marred with a smile.
"My name is Edward Bell, and I came here not to talk to you, but to the world. Chaos has surfaced with the appearance of Supers, too many have served their own interests and used their powers to go above the law. With that, I agree.
"But simply bringing them under the different governments is just going to turn them into weapons. Not only will this bring destruction, I am sure many of you would rather not see your children being turned into weapons."
Staring straight into the cameras, Edward added, "Please do not forget that anyone could become a Super, and with more appearing everyday, your child could become a Super any day. Now, you tell me, do you want your child to become a weapon?"
Most were too stunned to talk because of Edward's Royal Aura, but Pierce greeted his teeth and hissed, "So they should become your weapons instead?"
"No, I don't want to turn them into weapons. My idea is to create an organization that would PROTECT Supers, as well as educate them and put rules on them. Not only would they learn to use their powers, they would also become whatever they want."
Edward pointed up, and added, "We have already seen with Trondheim that there exists threats outside the Earth, ones capable of destroying us. I did not want to create this organization for power, but because I understand the need of uniting against the enemy better than anyone."
Then, gesturing toward the people in the room, Edward continued, "Even if we were to ignore the intentions of the governments to turn Supers into weapons, they do not have the authority to bring the stronger Supers under them. I, on the other hand, hold said power and authority."
Pierce clenched his fists hard, and argued, "You are nothing more than a tyrant, and humanity has faced more than one."
Edward replied, "A Tyrant? From what I know, a tyrant is a cruel oppressive ruler who took power through force. Between us, I think you are more of a tyrant than I am."
He looked away from Pierce, and toward the cameras as he continued, "Change takes time, and we should not decide the future on simply today's decisions. I am not forcing my views onto you either. I am simply here to present an alternative to you."
Edward clenched his fist and said with a firm voice, "I'm not naive, many people's trust will turn toward the government, and I don't blame you for this, after all, who is to say I'm in the right and they are in the wrong? But whatever the answer to that question is, whatever happens to humanity, I have shown you an alternative, and in time you will understand I am right."
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