[A/N]: The Second goal of the week is 400 Power Stones for 2 more Bonus chapters. If you're enjoying the story, drop a stone, leave a comment, and show some love.
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Washington D.C., Emergency Cabinet Meeting
Senator Kelly stood at the head of the table, tablet in hand, showing the footage of Rachel Morrison's transformation for the fifth time.
"This changes everything," he said quietly. "Ordinary citizens are gaining superpowers. Temporarily, yes, but the implications..."
"We need to control this," another senator interrupted. " and regulate it. If anyone can become superhuman at any moment..."
"How exactly do you propose we regulate a golden light from the sky?" The President's voice carried exhaustion. "How do we control something that apparently grants power based on willingness to save others?"
"We study it, weaponize it and turn it into a national defense asset."
Vice President Rodriguez stood up. His face flushed with barely contained anger.
"Are you listening to yourselves? People are being given the chance to save lives and your first instinct is to control it? To weaponize it?" His voice rose. "This is a gift. Maybe the first real gift humanity's gotten in years. And you want to lock it in a lab?"
"Rodriguez, you're too emotionally compromised on this issue. Your daughter..."
"Yes, my daughter!" Rodriguez slammed his hand on the table. "My daughter who was healed by the same man responsible for this. The same man who keeps saving lives while you political vultures circle overhead trying to figure out how to profit from his kindness!"
The room erupted into arguments. Voices raised, accusations thrown.
But on every screen, golden heroes kept appearing. Kept saving people. Kept proving that power in the right hands, even temporarily, could change the world.
Moscow, Oligarch's Penthouse
Dmitri Volkov watched the footage on his wall of monitors with calculating eyes. He was worth $45 billion, owned companies across six continents and had politicians in his pocket and armies at his beck and call.
But all that money, all that influence, couldn't buy what he'd just witnessed.
"Get me everyone," he said to his assistant. "Scientists, mystics, mercenaries. I don't care what it costs. I want to know how to control these golden lights."
"Sir, the reports suggest the power only goes to those willing to save others. It's not something that can be..."
"Everything can be bought," Dmitri interrupted. "Everything can be controlled. Find me a way or find me someone who can. I want that power. I want to bottle it and sell it to the highest bidder."
His assistant hesitated. "Sir, with respect, I don't think..."
"Did I ask what you think?" Dmitri's voice went cold. "Do your job or I'll find someone who will."
Zurich, Banking District
The emergency meeting of the World Economic Forum had convened via secure video conference. Faces on screens represented trillions in combined wealth and influence.
"Gentlemen, ladies, we have a problem," the chairman began. "The emergence of these temporary heroes threatens our entire economic structure. If ordinary people can become extraordinary at any moment, if they don't need our military-industrial complex or private security or even our healthcare systems..."
"They're still ordinary most of the time," someone interrupted. "The power fades and they return to normal. They still need everything we provide."
"But the psychological impact," another voice chimed in. "People are realizing they don't have to be helpless. That they can stand up to threats, and they have agency beyond what we've allowed them. That's dangerous to our interests."
"So we suppress the narrative," the chairman said. "Control the media coverage. Spin it as CGI, special effects, government psyops. Make people doubt what they're seeing."
On screens across the room, more footage played. More ordinary people becoming heroes. More lives saved.
"I don't think we can suppress this," someone said quietly. "This genie's out of the bottle. The question is how do we adapt?"
The meeting continued, plans were made and strategies developed. The ultra-rich doing what they did best: trying to maintain control in a world that was rapidly changing.
New York, Heroes for Hire Office
Luke Cage sat in the office's rec room, watching news coverage on the TV. Danny stood beside him, both men exhausted from their own battles but unable to look away.
"You seeing this?" Luke's voice carried wonder. "Regular people just becoming heroes when they need to be?"
"It's remarkable," Danny said quietly. His Iron Fist had long since faded as his chi depleted. But watching these civilians fight with powers he'd spent years training to earn... "All my training in K'un-Lun, all those years of discipline and meditation. And a schoolteacher in Tokyo just grew six arms and saved a dozen kids in thirty seconds."
"You sound jealous."
"I'm in awe." Danny's expression was complicated. "This democratizes heroism. Anyone can save lives now if they're willing. Anyone can be extraordinary."
Luke nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly what this is. No more depending and waiting for heroes to show up. People can save themselves."
"Is that good or bad?" Danny asked.
"It's terrifying," Luke admitted. "And it's the best thing I've ever seen."
On the TV, another transformation happened. A firefighter in London grew wings, pulled a family from a burning building. The then wings dissolved as the man collapsed, crying.
"But it's temporary," Danny observed. "They get the power just long enough, then it goes away."
"Maybe that's the point," Luke said. "You don't need to be superhuman all the time. You just need to be superhuman when someone needs saving. Then you can go back to being you."
Danny considered that. "A world where anyone can be a hero when it matters, but nobody has to carry that burden forever."
"Yeah." Luke's smile was complicated. "It's beautiful yet terrifying, and I have no idea what this means for people like us."
Danny said simply. "It means the world has more heroes than we ever imagined."
Social Media
Twitter had essentially broken. Multiple hashtags dominated the trending list:
#GoldenHeroes (23 million tweets)
#TemporaryPowers (18 million tweets)
#PowerBrokerDidThis (15 million tweets)
#OrdinaryPeopleExtraordinaryMoments (12 million tweets)
#MotherVoice (9.o million tweets)
Reddit's servers crashed repeatedly as every subreddit, regardless of original topic, had multiple threads discussing the phenomenon.
One post on r/worldnews had 8.7 million upvotes:
"My grandmother, 83 years old, accepted the golden light today. She grew young and strong again for exactly two minutes. Long enough to pull a child from rubble. Then she went back to being old. She's in the hospital now from exhaustion. But she won't stop smiling. Says it was worth every second and she felt alive for the first time in decades."
The comments section was flooded:
"My dad did the same thing. He has cancer and can barely walk most days. But he became strong enough to fight a Sentinel. Saved our entire apartment building. I've never been more proud."
"Teacher here. I got the power during an attack on my school. Suddenly could sense structural weaknesses. Used it to evacuate everyone before the building collapsed. The power lasted just three minutes. Best three minutes of my life."
"Streamer here. Anyone catch YagFoOad's stream? That dude turned into a Transformer to save a kid. Then cried his eyes out when the power faded. Most human moment I've ever seen from a content creator."
TikTok exploded with first-person accounts. People filming their own experiences:
A nurse showing her hands glowing golden, healing a patient, then the glow fading as she collapsed in tears of joy.
A construction worker demonstrating his temporarily enhanced strength by lifting a collapsed beam, freeing trapped co-workers, then the strength leaving as he laughed in relief.
A teenager in Mumbai showing footage of her mother sprouting wings, saving neighbors from a fire, then landing and immediately hugging her family despite the wings dissolving around them.
The emotional impact was universal. Everyone experienced the same hollowness when it faded. That sense of losing something precious.
But everyone also agreed: it was worth it. The sacrifice was worth the salvation.
Cult of the Lightbringer
Father Michael stood at the pulpit of the Church of the Lightbringer in New York, his congregation packed beyond capacity. Thousands had come seeking answers, seeking understanding.
"Brothers and sisters," his voice boomed through the space. "We have witnessed miracles today. We have seen the Lightbringer's work manifest across the globe. Golden lights descending from heaven, granting power to the worthy, saving lives through ordinary people made extraordinary."
The congregation murmured in agreement.
"Some ask: how can we be certain this is the Lightbringer's doing? I tell you this: who else has the power to grant abilities on a global scale? Who else has demonstrated the power over life and death itself? Who else brought 1200 souls back from beyond?"
"Jay!" someone shouted from the crowd. "The Power Broker! The Lightbringer!"
"Yes!" Father Michael's voice rose with conviction. "Jay, the Lightbringer, the one who saved the world during the Chitauri invasion. The one who raised the dead. The one who now grants temporary divinity to those with the courage to save others. This is his work. This is his miracle."
Across the world, similar sermons were being delivered. In Tokyo, in London, in Mumbai, in Lagos. The Cult of the Lightbringer had grown exponentially since the resurrection of 1200 people. Now, with this new miracle, belief solidified into certainty.
"The Lightbringer teaches us that heroism is not about permanent power," Father Michael continued. "It's about the willingness to act when someone needs help. The golden lights don't grant powers forever. They grant them for exactly as long as needed. Then they take them back. Because the Lightbringer knows: power corrupts. Permanent power corrupts permanently."
He spread his arms wide.
"But temporary power? Power given just long enough to save a life? That's divine wisdom. That's the Lightbringer showing us that we don't need to be gods. We just need to be brave when it matters most."
The congregation erupted in applause.
Outside, news cameras captured everything. The footage would be dissected, analyzed, debated. But the message was clear:
The Cult of the Lightbringer believed Jay was responsible. And millions were starting to believe it too.
That the question Peter Parker had asked, "Why do people always need heroes to save them?", finally had an answer.
Because sometimes, they didn't.
Sometimes, they just needed to be brave.
And Mother Earth, bless her ancient heart, had given them the power to act on that courage.
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