A short, bald, plump man in a pin striped suit walked stressfully backstage of the Freedom Theater. He was perspiring between the heat of being backstage, the tight suit and the people swarmed around him; a deep scowl formed on his face.
“Sir, I have Governor Arnolds on line 4.”
“Tell him, I'm in the middle of a show! Why is he such a-” he was interrupted.
“Sir, you're sweating. Shall I?” said another voice.
“It's your job isn't it?” he said angrily. The lady began to dab his forehead and another sprayed deodorant around him. He coughed from the spray and swore. Between the rude comments, anger management issues and sweaty body one would not have guessed this man is the 'honorable' James Carter, Vice President of the United States of America.
“Sir your blood pressure, calm down.”
The Vice President shot his medication adviser a dirty look then counted to ten.
As he neared seven he caught a word that caused him to yell, “All of you dispersed, except you Johnson.” The people scurried away from the Vice President, partly in fear and partly in relief. “Now what was that you said Johnson?” The Vice President said slyly.
“Sir, a man named 'The Commander' is on the phone. He says everything's in order,” Johnson spoke in a bored tone looking down at his clipboard. “Then also we received an email from the Prime Minister of-”
“Enough Johnson. Dismissed.”
“Yes sir,”
The Vice President straightened his suit and tie then pulled out his handkerchief and dabbed his forehead. So, he managed to organize it all by the deadline. Well at least I won't have to pretend to care about mutant freaks in the country anymore. He put on a false smile to wear for the cameras but it soon turned real at the realization of The Commander's message. He took a deep breath, then stepped out onto the stage.
Masses stood in front of Vice President Carter, cheering his name. “Carter! Carter!” they chanted as he waved at them. He formed the Salute to Mutants with his fingers by lifting up both his ring finger and small finger and pressing down on the other fingers with his thumb, then interlocking his gesturing hands, he raised his hands high in the air and the favor was returned; thousands of mutants formed the salute and raised their hands high. The cheering rang louder.
He laughed a bit then turned to look to his left, the president sat on a chair. On his right the First Lady sat and on the left was the Secretary of Mutant Affairs. He gave Carter a thumbs up and then the Vice President waved to the crowd to quieten.
“Thank you,” he started. “Thank you very much. I am very honored that the President has let me speak on this issue. Thank you Mr. President. Today is really a great day. Today we will sign the bill which will end the mutant and norm... non-mutant segregation” He shifted his feet uneasily. “We... uh- want to... enter a new era. That will-” He took out his handkerchief and dabbed his forehead then gulped down some-water. “That will be beneficial to America as a whole not just for mutants or normals” this time he didn't bother covering up the word 'normal'.
The Vice President looked at his notes and then began to read them off, “In America, ever since people realized that there were those who were different from the norm, people have hated and hunted them. Today,” he pressed his fingers hard against the wooden podium “Today we end that.”
There was the keyword, end. The Vice President looked back down at his notes casually then there was a loud bang and everyone screamed in unison. The secret service launched into action instinctively, a group swarming Carter, another group the president, secretary and First Lady and a final group launching into the crowd to pursue the attacker. Carter looked quickly in the direction of the bullet as secret service agents swarmed around him. The president had been shot in the arm, blood flowed and stained his shirt. The secret service quickly grabbed him and ushered him backstage.
Carter was now backstage as well and being rushed to a secret parking underground. The secret service urged him into a black limousine. He could hear sirens wailing from the ambulance which carried president Reed. He thought of how the president's wife would be weeping and punching agents in the nose to get to her husband, of how his children who were watching back at home would be crying miserably and asking all of the staff whether he would be alright. Then he clenched his fist and shut his eyes tightly to keep from crying; he had lost his family. There was no one to care for him and now- now he would get the chance to repay those who killed his family.
“Mr Carter are you okay?” an agent asked as the limo zoomed out of the underground parking.
“Hmm? Oh, yes thank you.” The agent looked puzzled at the Vice President's calm but quickly began to check for any injuries or problems. Go ahead, there's nothing. Only one who is hurt is the president, he may even die. He won't be alone though, that's for sure...
The limousine passed through the city like a hot knife through butter. One turn after another, swapping positions casually with decoy limousines, to confuse any snipers. Vice President Carter tried to put on a look of pure fear and terror but he had trouble. The first phase of the plan went off like clockwork, the president had been shot. Hopefully he had died and Carter could become the President then get revenge. He could picture it now: several senators being attacked. America divided and now with this recent attack, everyone would hate the mutants. Carter would become president and pass a legislation to re-instate the mutant segregation laws. He'd have power and revenge.
A wicked smile formed on his face as he looked out into the evening sky of Freedom City, on top of Mount Freedom stood Zenith Tower which caused the smile to morph into a scowl. Beyond Zenith, they would be a nuisance. No matter, Carter already had a plan for them...
