[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/CAJhOXG.png[/img][/center] [h3]The White House[/h3] “This is not a good idea,” said Pete Ross. He and Calvin were in the Rose Garden far away from eavesdropping Secret Service agents and any White House staffers they may come across. Lois was back in Metropolis for the next few days. In addition to her duties as First Lady she served on a few civic boards in various positions. Calvin had held similar positions, but he’d resigned them positions for the presidency. She still had an eye on Metropolis even as Calvin focused on the country and the world. He and Lois talked very little about post-presidency life at this point, but he hoped that one day he could go back to the relatively low stakes of the municipal revitalization committee. With Lois out of town Calvin and Pete had dinner together with Pete’s latest girlfriend, a junior staffer for a Georgia congressman. She was starstruck by having dinner with the president at the White House, it didn’t really matter that her boss had once called him the devil to a whooping crowd at the Madison County Fair. But Calvin hadn't forgotten. Pete had really scored some points with her for the dinner. And it irked Calvin a little to be used like that. What was next? He’d bring a date to Ft. Superman? “Your comment is duly noted,” said Calvin. “I thought we talked about this even before election day. You would let Calvin Ellis be president while Superman continued to be a citizen of the world. Superman has never been a tool of US policy.” “I like this thing you’re doing, talking about me like I’m not here,” said Calvin. “How can you talk to me about what Superman does and doesn’t do? Furthermore, it’s not like I’m going to the Senate floor in my cape and boots, Pete. There’s a potential terrorist attack forthcoming. Doesn’t matter if it’s Helena, Montana, or Lagos. People are going to get hurt. And I have the power to prevent that. Why shouldn't I act?” “Let ARGUS do its job, Cal,” Pete said with a sigh. He rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head. “I’m just thinking of the optics of Superman fighting some political group.” Calvin raised an eyebrow. Pete had always been one of the most savvy political minds Calvin knew. He could always see the angles and consider every point of view and the implications for every decision. It was why he was chief of staff and Calvin’s top political advisor. But this? “This isn’t just some political group, Pete. ARGUS isn't looking into the local chapter of Greenpeace, you know. These are bad guys, bad bad people who are looking to harm other people. These people already hate Calvin Ellis and all that he stands for, and I can bet you they’re not too keen on Superman either. Who exactly do we tick off with this decision? What kind of allies and support would Superman lose by taking down some Neo-Nazi? And if I did… is that the kind of support I want?” “It’s just… where does it end?” Pete asked. “Doing what's right for America and what's right for you can clash, and sometimes dovetail into bad decisions. How long before Superman is leading the 2nd Cavalry into Iran.” “The slippery slope doesn’t work on me,” Calvin said, his arms crossed. “They’ve been saying for years ‘how long until Superman gets bored of saving lives and just living among humans, and he does something crazy like--’” “Run for president?” snapped Pete. He nodded and spread his hands, “yeah...crazy right?” An awkward silence lingered between the two men. Pete wouldn’t meet Calvin’s eyes. Calvin slid his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Good night, Pete. The Secret Service will see you out.” “Alright, Cal,” Pete said finally. “You do what you want to do. I did my part. I advised. It’s up to you to make the choice.” “And that’s why I’m president, and you’re not.” Calvin crossed his arms. “Good night. See you tomorrow. And the next time you come to dinner in my house, you come alone.” “So come alone to this house?” asked Pete. “The one the American people are letting you live in for the next four years? The one I'm trying to keep you in for another four years? That house? This house? Got it, Mr. President. Understood.” [hr] [h3]Gary, Indiana [/h3] Calvin walked through the small kitchen in full Superman costume. Joshua Ellis sat at the kitchen table with a bowl of sugary cereal and milk in front of him. He gave his son a passing glance before going back to his bowl. “Aren’t you a little too early for Halloween?” Joshua asked. “Aren’t you a little too old for Fruity Pebbles?” Calvin replied back. Calvin took a seat at the table across from his father. He hadn’t been home in nearly six months, probably his longest time away from the place, and it struck him how little seemed to change. The house was the same as it had always been in the last 40 years. It seemed like his dad had managed to put a new coat on the kitchen cabinets, but that was it. Josh and Mary Ellis called the little two story house on Vermont Street home long before Calvin had literally landed in their lives, and they would continue to call the place home until they died. “Saw you on the news,” said Joshua. “Saw you at some event in Denver, and then saw you fighting that Atomic Skull guy in Baltimore. It’s like I got two sons… only one of them wears glasses.” “What’s up with the cereal?” Calvin asked. “Just a before bedtime snack,” Joshua shrugged. “I’m keeping an eye on my blood pressure and sugar, son.” “Your vitals are good,” said Calvin. “Next time you go to the doctor see if they can do an ultrasound on your left kidney though.” “Superman, president, [i]and [/i]a doctor. It’s a shame I can only brag to my friends about one of those things.” Calvin shook his head and laughed. “I’m sure your buddies at the VFW like to bend your ear about the job I’m doing.” Joshua was a Vietnam veteran and spent plenty of time at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post with the elderly men who served in Southeast Asia, and the now large group of younger vets of American conflicts in the Middle East. The old breed of WW2 vets were alsmost all gone. Calvin figured Steve was the only one he knew still alive and even he had... a little help with his longevity. “Yep. I’ve convinced them I’m a member of your braintrust.” “Is that right?” “Told them the boy can’t turn out a light without getting my approval.” “Real power behind the throne, huh, dad?” Joshua grunted and took another spoonful of Fruity Pebbles. He contemplated something as he chewed. When he finished he swallowed and looked at his son. “You know, night’s like this I get to missing your mother.” “I’m here,” Mary Ellis said as she came from the living room. “Your father is just mad because I said he overcooked the spaghetti noodles tonight. Said he wasn't talking to me.” “Sometimes it’s like I can still hear her….” Marry kissed Calvin on the cheek and put a hand on his shoulder. “New suit, Cal?” “A little bit more lead padding around the edges. I had a run-in with Metallo a few months back and he did a little more damage than he usually does.” Mary took a seat at the kitchen table next to Calvin and smiled at him. “How’s Lois?” “Good,” Cal shrugged. “She’s still adjusting, like I am, to everything. The biggest thing is the schedules and monitoring. Lois has always done her own thing and now she can’t do that. You know the word she hates the most is 'no' and now she's hearing that a lot these days, although a bit more diplomatically phrased. Every move has to be watched and weighed and approved.” “Yeah,” said Joshua. “We wouldn’t know anything about that…” Calvin shot his father a look. He knew posted outside the Ellis house was a car containing two Secret Service agents. The Ellis’ had been hesitant to take up the offer of protection, but Calvin managed to convince them. The heated rhetoric around the election and the… passionate discourse over Calvin made him worried for their potential safety. “I can’t be everywhere at once, dad,” said Calvin. “Even before the White House.” “You don’t think we can take care of ourselves?” Mary asked her son. “We’ve witnessed a lot of change happening around us, Cal. This city has gone downhill, but we’ve survived.” “I’m not worried about neighborhood people,” Calvin said with a shake of his head. “I’m worried about someone with an agenda coming in from out of town. Look, will my own parents just do me the favor of listening to me for once?” Calvin clenched his jaw in and furrowed his brow. Joshua raised an eyebrow at his son and put his spoon down in the almost empty bowl of cereal. “What’s got you bothered, Cal?” “That obvious?” he asked. “Might as well have a neon sign on your forehead,” said Mary. Calvin sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I became Superman because I wanted to help people with my powers. I became president because I wanted to help people as Calvin Ellis. And it feels like Calvin Ellis can’t help as many people as he wants to, and now I’m being told that Superman has to make decisions with the political future of Calvin Ellis in mind.” “Why did you become president?” Joshua asked. “Did… you not hear me? To help as many people as possible.” “And how do you do that?” Calvin suddenly felt like he was a child again. “What are you getting at? I guess by doing… good things?” Joshua nodded his head as Mary picked up the thread. “Your dad and I always taught you to do the right thing, regardless of the consequences.” “Do what’s right,” said Joshua. “And the rest will work out.” Mary squeezed Calvin’s shoulder. “For Superman [i]and [/i]Calvin Ellis. You hungry, Cal? I got some leftover spaghetti... the noodles aren't the best, but you dump enough sauce on it I'm sure we can salvage something edible.” “Woman, you are the devil, you know that?” [hr] [h3]Helena, Montana[/h3] [b]ARGUS SAFEHOUSE[/b] [b]CODENAME: “BIG SKY”[/b] Jasper Sitwell put in his earbuds and started the “lofi beats to chill and spy to” playlist on his phone. The music washed over him as he began to monitor the torrents of data coming in throughout the city of Helena. Someone from pretty high up the ladder was involved. They dispatched Sitwell from ARGUS’ Denver office with the orders to set up shop in the BIG SKY safehouse. He had no idea what his bosses were looking for, only that it was serious. He was given full-blown taupe clearance, which was a big deal. No mission Sitwell had been part of ever went full taupe. Every piece of personal communication that went out across a thirty mile radius -- text, phone call, email, drunken snapchat dick pic -- got caught in the ARGUS net for Sitwell and the algorithm to sift through. Privacy rights and laws be damned for the next forty-eight hours. Sitwell checked his watch after what seemed like hours. Almost twelve hours had passed since first starting the search and so far it was nothing but personal information, nothing that would shake the threat of national security. Well... apparently the local K-Mart in town was finally giving up the ghost and plenty of people on Facebook were sad about it. That was the closest he saw until... now? Stillwell sat up when he saw an influx of communications flashing across the screen. Snippets of texts and real-time transcriptions of phone calls were displayed on the monitor in front of him. The algorithm had pegged them as upper echelon important. [b]KEYWORDS AND PHRASES: EXPLOSION, BOOM, BOMB.[/b] “A sonic boom?” Sitwell said aloud. “In… Helena.” More flashing notifications tagged high priority and critical. Texts, a blurry cellphone video, radar information from a nearby USAF base. Something small was flying through the area at a very, very, fast speed. The radar info and other data ended up collected under one tab: [b]METAHUMAN THREAT METAHUMAN: UNKNOWN: SPOTTED… FACIAL RECOGNITION… PENDING…. PENDING…[/b] “Superman?” Sitwell went for his phone. The lofi beats would have to wait. For some reason Superman had shown up in Montana. This had to be what he was here for. He started to call his superiors in Denver. [i]“Sitwell… what’s going on?”[/i] He let ASAC Gannon continue to talk while Sitwell watched the screen, the phone slumped on his shoulder. The monitor flashed alert after alert of incoming warnings. [b]SECOND METAHUMAN SPOTTED… FACIAL RECOGNITION… PENDING… PENDING WARNING! WARNING! PERSON OF MASS DESTRUCTION EVENT IMMINENT[/b] “Gannon,” Sitwell finally said. “I think I found what we're looking for…”