Collateral Damage
Owen was the first to step out of the base. The moment he crossed the doorway, his gaze quickly settled on the large number of people standing outside. Several military-style vehicles were lined up in front of the place, accompanied by dozens of armed men wearing full high-tech combat suits, looking like some kind of SWAT unit. Even though they were not pointing their weapons directly at him, it was obvious that this was a blatant threat, especially since they were positioned right in front of VITAE's entrance. A show of power, perhaps.
Meanwhile, the soldiers assigned to protect the surroundings were gathered at strategic points, their weapons also in hand, just in case. When they noticed Owen stepping outside, some of them showed expressions of surprise and faint excitement. Of course they knew him. They had been there since the founding of VITAE, and Owen was basically a legend to them. Seeing him standing there made them lower their weapons almost instinctively, as if they were not even necessary, while they shot faint, mocking smiles toward the DODC agents.
Those agents, in turn, immediately looked confused when they noticed the looks being directed at them.
Owen walked toward them calmly, straight to the one who seemed to be the leader, or whatever she was supposed to be. She was a woman in her early thirties at least, with shoulder-length hair and a face that looked genuinely bad-tempered and unfriendly. She was wearing a black suit, with a police badge hanging from her neck. When she looked at Owen, for a brief moment it seemed as if she was trying to recognize him from somewhere, but she quickly shifted into a faint expression of disgust. Owen noticed it immediately, and he also noticed that Kamala had come out right behind him, almost running. When she saw the woman's gaze, the girl clung to his leg, forcing Owen to stop right there.
The woman, her eyes fixed on Kamala, took a couple of confident steps forward.
"I'm Sadie Deever, from the Department of Damage Control," she said, clearly expecting some kind of reaction from Owen. He simply stared at her in silence.
When she got no response, she cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry, but I have orders to place a powered child under surveillance, possibly a mutant, who could represent a threat to public safety. That's why we're here to take her," she said, pointing toward Kamala.
Kamala tightened her grip on Owen's leg, and he gave her a light, reassuring look.
"And why exactly are you trying to arrest a small child?" Owen asked calmly, crossing his arms and looking at the woman with complete composure, as if he did not care in the slightest where she came from or who she was.
The woman frowned for a moment.
"Maybe you didn't hear me correctly, but I said we are from the Department of Damage Control. We are responsible for monitoring and controlling enhanced activities, or rather, people with powers, in case they are potentially dangerous to civilians. It is also our job to place children who still cannot properly control their powers under surveillance, since they could be an even greater danger than villains, because…"
"Okay, stop right there," Owen said, cutting her off.
"Are you saying a child is more dangerous than a villain?" he asked, his expression hovering between mild confusion and faint mockery.
"Ahem." The woman cleared her throat again, frowning at the lack of respect the man in front of her was showing toward her job. After all, people with powers were supposed to respect them. At least, that was how it always went whenever she dealt with any of them. "As you may know, the incident that happened…"
"Ah, it's fine, don't worry about it. Just leave. You're not taking anyone from here," Owen said, already turning slightly as if to end the conversation right then and there.
"I'm sorry, sir, but that's impossible. That girl destroyed a tree, and as a result, a car caught fire, nearly causing even greater problems. Someone who still cannot control their powers could be dangerous."
"I said leave," Owen repeated in a cold tone, looking at the woman with clear exhaustion. For a brief moment, a noticeable red energy ran through every part of his body, stirring his clothes and his hair.
Immediately, all the men behind the woman raised their weapons, aiming them directly at him. They looked like specialized high-tech firearms, and even from the vehicles, what appeared to be miniature cannons began to emerge.
That seemed to give the woman some confidence.
"I'm sorry, sir. I can't do that. Even if you work for VITAE, this is our job, and that job is to take the gi—"
Owen did not let her finish. He raised both hands and suddenly clapped, his palms completely covered in that same red energy.
Then, as if a contained explosion had been released from his hands, the shockwave burst outward. The force sent the armed men flying backward, almost knocking them to the ground. Even the vehicles were pushed aside for a moment, while the woman herself was hurled several meters through the air before crashing down onto one of her own men.
"I was gone for just one year, and it seems a lot of people have already started to forget who I am, and what this place behind me represents," Owen said in a truly serious tone, his gaze settling on every single man who had raised their weapons against him.
At the same time, the soldiers behind him raised their own weapons, and from within the base, dozens of cannons far more advanced than those mounted on the vehicles emerged, all of them aimed directly at the DODC.
Almost immediately, the DODC group began to tremble at the sight of so many weapons pointed at them. One of the men, staring at Owen, could not stop sweating as he moved closer to the woman, who was in complete shock, staring at the weapons aimed at her, her face utterly pale. When he whispered something into her ear, she turned even paler, fear flooding her expression as she looked at Owen, who seemed to terrify her far more than all those weapons combined.
"Y-you… you're Owen Colt… what are you doing here? We should have been notified if someone like you—" the woman could not even finish the sentence, starting to tremble as she realized she might have made an enemy out of that man.
"Are you talking about those annoying things that were always trying to spy on my house? Sometimes, when I was bored, I used to throw rocks at them to knock them down," Owen said calmly. "They must have cost quite a few million, right?" he added with a faint hint of mockery.
"N-no… we work for the Department of Homeland Security," she said, her voice shaking.
"Oh, really? Even if the Secretary of Homeland Security himself wanted to take this girl, he would get the same answer," Owen replied with complete calm.
The woman fell silent, not knowing what to say or what to do anymore. Luckily for her, a car suddenly appeared, drawing Owen's attention, since someone he knew was inside.
The vehicle came to a stop right in the middle of all the chaos, as if nothing unusual had happened, and General Nathaniel stepped out. He walked at a calm pace, stopped for a moment, and looked first at the DODC, then at Owen, then at the weapons… and finally at the girl standing behind him.
"Finished playing?" he asked Owen. "You seem to get into trouble pretty quickly. I'm not sure retirement did you any good," he added, staring at him.
"Sounds like it's my fault," Owen replied with mild irritation.
"Alright. Wrap this up and let's go back inside. There's something important we need to discuss," the general said, before walking off calmly, as if he did not care at all about what was happening around him.
"Huh. I'm already done," Owen said before turning around and following the general.
Kamala, with a look full of excitement and her eyes practically glowing… well, actually, they really were glowing. Maybe her power made them shine like small stars. She immediately followed him, running along, completely excited, and almost right away she started talking so fast and with so much enthusiasm that Owen could not help but feel like covering his ears.
The woman, who had been frozen in place, seemed to snap out of her shock and looked at all the weapons still aimed at her.
"Let's go. Now," she said seriously, trying to recover at least some dignity. Everyone got into the vehicles, and they drove off quickly.
…
Nathaniel entered the meeting room, where everyone had gathered once again. This time, they had stopped joking around, since the general was present, though they still wore faint smiles after seeing how Owen had handled the situation with the DODC.
Owen entered behind the general, holding Kamala as if she were a kitten, gripping her by her clothes. On the way, she had become incredibly noisy, talking nonstop, and that had seemed to be the only way to make her quiet down. It worked, and now she was calm… and happy.
Owen handed her over to Wanda, who gave him a reproachful look for holding her like that.
"Looks like you ran into the DODC," Nathaniel said calmly to Owen. "That's good. It makes things easier to explain," he added.
"Those are the guys who caused the problem with the technology that ended up releasing Ultron, right?" Owen asked with a serious look.
"Something like that," the general replied.
"Wait… what?" Nicholas asked in surprise.
"The technology," Owen said, keeping his gaze steady.
Some of them did not understand it right away. It seemed that only Tony, Owen, and Nathaniel had grasped it instantly, while Banner remained silent, thinking, as if connecting the dots in his head.
"They're the ones who started taking technology from groups like Oscorp, Cross Technologies, AIM, and other companies that either ran into trouble or were destroyed," Banner said seriously.
"Not just that," the general added with an irritated expression. "Some alien technologies ended up in their hands as well. Even things from SHIELD. No matter how much we try to clean things up, it's hard to compete against the government," he continued, even as a general himself.
"Now, their job is supposedly to clean up the disasters left behind by heroes and handle security. But seen from another angle, they're the spearhead if they ever have to face superhumans," he went on.
"Basically, they're the contingency plan against us," Owen added with a faint smirk.
Everyone in the room frowned. They had already had several unpleasant encounters with the DODC during rescue missions, but this was something else entirely.
"Well, they don't matter right now," the general said, placing a file on the table. "What matters is the problem all superhumans are caught up in."
On the cover, the title was clearly written:
Superhuman Registration Act.