[center][img]http://baku-panda.org/images/absolute_billy_logo.png[/img][/center][COLOR=1E90FF][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]W A S H I N G T O N , D. C.[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT][sup][color=gold]April 4th, 1952 [/color][/sup][/INDENT][/INDENT] [i]This is Douglas Edwards reporting. [/i] [i]Senator Joseph McCarthy today called to order a hearing of the House Un-American Activities Committee in order to question alleged un-American activities of one William Batson. Batson, appearing as a young child, a decorated veteran of the War in Europe, more popularly known as Captain Marvel.[/i] [i]Batson had earlier been subpoened to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and was held in contempt by Congress for failing to appear. Batson had been in Alaska with other members of the Justice Society, where they had engaged in combat with an object described by witnesses as a mechanical giant.[/i] [i]A federal judge is expected to rule later on the contempt charges stemming from the earlier absence.[/i] [i]Wait, there’s some commotion outside the capital. There’s something in the sky. Is it..? It’s too large to be a bird. It’s not a plane, it’s... Ladies and gentlemen at home, you won’t believe what I have to tell you, but Captain Marvel has appeared in the air over Washington. Flying under some unknown means. I have never seen anything like it.[/i] [i]He has just landed on the steps of the capital. We’re going to move inside as well, where we’ll continue with the hearing of the House Un-American Activities Committee, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin.[/i] [center][color=black][b]+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +[/b] [ [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy_4JmGCt-Q]soundtrack[/url] ][/color][/center] The sound of the gavel echoed through the chamber. The small boy seemed dwarfed by the chair that he was situated in, poised on the edge with his feet dangling an inch off the floor. Before him, a U-shaped panel of Congressmen sat on high, in judgment. The surly figure at the center of which, gavel in hand, seemed every inch judge and juror. “Mister Batson, is it true that you were commanded to appear before this committee on March 9th?” Hands folded atop the table, Billy leaned forward as best he was able in order to speak into the microphone as he’d been instructed. [color=#00bfff]“It is, sir,”[/color] the boy supplied simply. “And is it true that you did [i]not[/i] appear before this committee at that time?” [color=#00bfff]“It is, sir.”[/color] “And is it true that you were in Alaska with the Justice Society at the day and time when you were to appear here before this committee?” [color=#00bfff]“It is, sir.”[/color] The senator at the center of the panel paused there. He flipped through an assortment of pages, as though checking some of his notes. “And, one more question about Alaska,” the man stated, raising his head to look sharply down on the boy. “Is it true that you met with Soviet agents while in Alaska?” [color=#00bfff]“Sir...”[/color] Billy stated, tongue tied and twisted as, in his mind, he played back the question to make certain he hadn’t just mis-heard that. [color=#00bfff]“Gosh jeepers, no.”[/color] “This is the [i]United States Congress[/i], young man. Not the sandlot,” the senator barked harshly. Billy visibly winced. [color=#00bfff]“Sorry, sir,”[/color] the boy uttered meekly, before taking a breath and stating, [color=#00bfff]“It is not true, sir.”[/color] “Not true, eh?” Senator McCarthy echoed back, shuffling the papers in front of him for a moment. When he had laid them back down again, he asked, “So you were just protecting the good people of America, is that it, son?” Billy’s eyes moved from one end of the panel of Congressmen to the other. Then, looking back at Joseph McCarthy, offered, [color=#00bfff]“Sir, I believe my record speaks for itself there.”[/color] “Let’s review that record… Mister Batson,” Senator McCarthy snapped, before holding up a copy of the Fawcett Herald. Pointing at the newspaper in hand, the man barked, “You have an opinion about the Internal Security Act that was proposed by my colleague and friend, Senator McCarren, do you not?” Billy gave a nod as he replied simply, [color=#00bfff]“I do, sir.”[/color] “Enlighten this panel, Mister Batson.” [color=#00bfff]“I agree with the opinion stated by President Truman, sir,”[/color] Billy answered in a matter-of-fact tone. Without missing a beat, the boy posed a question of his own. [color=#00bfff]“Is that... [i]un-American[/i], sir?”[/color] “This committee will be the judge of that, son,” McCarthy fired back. “Let’s continue on. In addition to not supporting the internal security of these United States, you [i]do[/i] support a foreign agent, do you not?” Billy just blinked. Then a second time. Finally, the boy asked,[color=#00bfff] “Come again, sir?”[/color] “Allow me to be more specific. How would you characterize your relationship with the foreign agent known as Wonder Woman?” Billy’s head went back in an obvious look of disbelief. When he recovered, a moment later, the boy leaned into the microphone to say, [color=#00bfff]“I’d say that I consider Woman Woman to be a friend. Someone that I have a great deal of respect for.”[/color] “And you’re not concerned in the least about the anti-American sentiments expressed by this friend of yours?” the senator tossed back in retort, before continuing on before Billy could so much as open his mouth. “Of course, you’re not. Because you have a great deal of respect for this un-American, foreign agent. Isn’t that right, Mister Batson?” Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but for a moment it seemed as though the gauntlets around the boy’s forearms were glowing as his eyes seemed to take on an unearthly light of their own. [color=#00bfff]“Gee, sir. I don’t think I know what America you’re referring to, sir,”[/color] Billy managed, in an oddly cool tone for the lad. Continuing on, the boy added, [color=#00bfff]“You’re from Wisconsin. Can’t say I know much ‘bout Wisconsin, sir. I’m from Ohio. Where we believe, among other things, in the freedom of speech.”[/color] There was a murmur of laughter through the House of Representatives. Banging the gavel against the table, Senator McCarthy silenced the room. “Order, there will be order.” Still holding the gavel, the senator leveled the hammer like a weapon down toward the child as he snapped, “I’ll tell you what [b]I[/b] believe, Mister Batson. You, child, are a communist, a traitor to these United States of America, and very likely a criminal. A delinquent in the very least.” [center][color=black][b]+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +[/b][/color][/center] [color=gold][b]F A W C E T T C I T Y[/b] [i]Present Day[/i][/color] There were tears slipping from out the corners of his eyes as he woke. He was staring up at a ceiling. The room felt [i]alien[/i] to him, because it was [b]familiar[/b] in a way that he couldn’t immediately place. So much time away. Disorientation and disassociation gnawed away at his awareness as the truth of where he was began to seep in. This looked like Earth. He tried to sit up, but pain lanced through his body and caused him to settled back atop the bed. “Take it easy, son.” It was a human voice. Not an alien intonation deciphered by the universal communicator that he wore. Not the inhuman vocalizations of the Kymellians or the alien language of the Majesdane, but an actual human voice. Billy turned his head and saw an old man seated by his bedside. Wisened featured that were weathered upon a well-lined face framed by thinning, white hair. The man closed the book that had been in his lap, slowly rising to his feet and then shuffling toward where the boy lay. Even as his mind cried out that he was home, Billy found himself afraid to believe it. Reaching a hand out, the child seemed desperate to reach out and touch this stranger who wasn’t as strange as the people, the places, the worlds that had become the new normal for Billy in all the decades that he’d been away. The man simply held the boy’s hand, smiling down at him. In a halting, stammering tone, Billy softly asked, [color=#00bfff]“Is this... Earth?”[/color] Squeezing the child’s hand, the man gave a nod. “Welcome home, Captain.” [center][color=black][b]+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +[/b][/color][/center] The old man’s name was Fred. He was retired, but occupied himself by staying active with volunteering for the Red Cross and the USO. He’d brought Billy some donation of clothes, though Billy had required Fred’s help in changing out of the hospital gown that he was wearing. Bruises marked the child’s body from his battle with Terrax, as well as the struggle with the neutron star. To be honest, Billy couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt pain like this. From out the window of the hospital room, the child looked down at a small gathering of people and news vans piled in the hospital lawn. The signs that they were holding contained things like [b]WELCOME BACK, CAPTAIN![/b] [color=#00bfff]“What happened?”[/color] Billy asked, turning away from the window. When Fred gave the boy a quizzical look, the boy explained, [color=#00bfff]“When I left with Aelfrye, people hated me like they hated Jane Fonda.”[/color] Fred tapped his book against his leg, musing silently to himself for a moment. Finally, he said, “People in my generation were upset that you weren’t fighting in Vietnam. And people in the younger generation were upset that you weren’t doing anything to [i]stop[/i] our soldiers from fighting in Vietnam.” Pausing there, Fred set the book aside before folding his hands in his lap as he continued. “That’s a long time, now. The world changed. Presidents came and went. We apologized for the Japanese internment. Tried to fix the soldiers from Vietnam that we’d broken. And realized we’d made heroes into villains, and a few villains into heroes.” Billy just turned back toward the window, staring down at the thin crowd with a somber mix of emotions. Then, he turned back. Something about what Fred had said seemed [i]familiar[/i] somehow. [color=#00bfff]“Hey, Mister Fred? Where were you during the Second World War?”[/color] The old man just smiled, then both heads turned toward the door to the hospital room as a knock sounded. “Ask me again sometime,” Fred offered, rising from out of the chair as two men in military style uniforms stepped inside. “In the meantime, I think that these gentlemen are interested in speaking with you,” Fred noted, picking up his book and then shuffling his way toward the door as he made his exit. The elder of the two military looking individuals took a step forward. Billy didn’t recognize the blue service coat with silver piping, but he did recognize the stars atop the epaulets. “Captain Batson, welcome back to the United States,” the major general offered, before adding. “I’m General Sanders. My aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Muldowney.” Even as the second, younger man gave a nod, the general continued on. “We’d like to talk with you about where you’ve been these last forty years.” It as [i]friendlier[/i] than his last encounter with agents of the United States government, but Billy couldn’t help but feel like he was back in that chair on the floor of the House Congressional hearing. Looking at Sanders, then Muldowney, Billy looked back at the general as he quietly stated, [color=#00bfff]“I doubt you’d believe it, sir.”[/color] “We’re confident that you weren’t on Earth.” Muldowney stated, chiming in. “Based on your trajectory during re-entry, we believe that you were somewhere beyond the asteroid belt.” Sanders held his hands out, as though silently asking Billy to [i]just hold on a moment[/i]. “If you have information on what threats exist beyond our solar system, I’m interested in them. No matter how... out-of-this-world they might seem,” the man stated.