Vanguard International Complex: Meeting Room

A small group of person sits around the long table, looking at a big screen on the far side of the room. Danny Hearn, Kristopher Schanz, Grissom Montag, Grimm, Tobias Cristopher and Kristogar Velo closely watch taped news from when they were away from the rest of the world, fighting mad metahumans in the deep of the Ocean.

quote:
"Thank you Philip, I am Buzz. E. Rante, live for Skynews from Promethean City, USA. It's a sunny and hot day here, as the President of the United State, Mr. Robert Brown, is expected to appear in a few minutes here on Athanon Lane, directed to the Town Hall. The security measures taken are... well, simply incredible. After the recent exploits of the Metahuman Brotherhood for Liberation, nothing is too much to protect the President. There are 15.000 policemen scattered among the crowd here in Promethean, while the surroundings of the city have been totally blocked by the Army. 150 Apache helicopters flies incessantly over the City.

But, it seems... yes, now I see it, it's arriving. Behind dozens of policemen on motorbikes, the Presidential Limousine is arriving.

Mr. Brown stepped to presidency when he was Vice President for Mr. Richard S. Turner, killed on the Inaugural Address of his mandate, in the year 1996. Then, four years later, Mr. Brown has been re-elected, becoming the first African American president of the USA...

...as the limousine runs across the two crowded wings of people, hats, newspapers, balloons starts to flies, pushed by an heavy gale...

...it's becoming very windy here, Philip. The Presidential limousine is passing exactly in front of us, now... I see Mr. Brown... why he is looking at the sun? Everyone is looking up... Oh my God. I.. it's... oh fucking shit...

A black screen replace the image of the president crossing himself.

The, the image switch over satellite footage hacked from a CIA secret satellite. There is a huge, round inlet where Promethean City was before.

The tape returns over a newscast screen, a talking head of the local broadcast company.

...yet not from any kind of information from the government of the USA. The earthquake, that has affected the whole east coast of the United States, had his epicenter in the Delaware state. The area is totally cut off from any kind of communication. The nearby cities of Philadelphia, Wilmington, Atlantic City, Baltimore, Dover and Ocean City have suffered a great deal of damage...

...on the screen run images of destructions, buildings and bridges collapsed, people screaming, factories on fire, kids covered in bloods in hospital beds, firemen at works...

...Vice President George W. Bush is expected to talk to the nation in less than half a hour. Experts says that an earthquake of this magnitude was unlikely to happens, due to the geological structure of the area, but...

...the screen turns black, then it is permeated by a purple glows. And then appears a horrible, red, face, with two small horns protruding from the forehead, and a wicked smile.

"PEOPLE OF THE EARTH. TODAY THE POWER OF NAECKEN HAS SHAKEN YOUR PLANET LIKE A LEAF IN THE HURRICANE. SURRENDER YOUR NATIONS TO THE PRINCE OF HELL. WHO WILL BECOME AN ALLY WILL BE SPARED. WHO WILL REMAIN AN ENEMY, WILL BE CRUSHED.
METAHUMAN OF THE EARTH, COME TO MY PLACE, AS THE DAY OF YOUR REVENGE HAS COME."

On the screen the newswoman of the La Perdita News has reappeared. She looks away from the camera, trying to understand what is happened. She picks up the little "phone" she has on her desk, whispering, then breath heavily and comes back to look straight in camera.

The interference we have... experienced... as for now has not any explanation. Our colleagues are working hard to find any clues, we'll be back on this when we'll have any kind of interpretation of the odd declaration made by a man camouflaged as a demon. Now back on the earthquake that has shaken the Atlantic coast of the USA...

...the woman stops again, and picks up the phone for the second time...

...we have a declaration from the European country of Mandelovia, the little nation that less than two years ago sealed its frontier to people from abroad, and that is well know for his advanced technology, that put it ahead of any other country of the planet, including the USA, at last since the seventeen century. It's going live on CNN, the translation should kick in by any moment...

The tape now features directly the CNN...

Citizens of Mandelovia, the ultimatum given by the demon Naecken to the community of the nations gives us no choice. For the security of all the citizen of our blessed land, and to assure a bright future for Mandelovia, I have chosen to ally with Naecken to spare a terrible destiny like the one endured by the City of Promethean, destroyed by a falling meteor controlled by the Fiend.
I don't express any kind of sorrow or compassion for the United States of America, as nearly two years ago it was that imperialist nation to try a similar attack to our capital city, only to fail by the hands of a mysterious metahuman.
I hereby declare fully allegiance to Naecken and war to the United States of America.