Chapter No. 91. Revenge.

However, not all the details had been worked out, and the news began to reveal the dilemma that faced the country. It was inevitable that the world would know who the superheroes are and what they had done. Robert had decided to submit to an interview, one that was intently watched by the entire world.

Anna Petrovka, a Russian correspondent, was awarded the honors.

"You are the patriarch of the family, Robert. Do you make all of the decisions?"

"No. We discuss all issues that involve us. I was the first to realize that I possess powers."

"You and your family have helped in many disasters, including the recent alien invasion that would have destroyed Russia, and yet your own country has attempted to destroy you. Why do you continue to favor them?"

"We don't favor any country, but we were born Americans, so it was natural that we would help them."

"Are you responsible for President Fenton's disappearance?"

"Yes. We had no other choice. He had authorized a military attack on us. We will not tolerate any attack."

"Why don't you take over the government?"

"We are opposed to that. We have been given our powers by God not to take over but to help humanity survive, and we have honored that mandate on many occasions, including a large asteroid collision, a gamma ray burst that would have stripped the atmosphere from Earth, at least two demon attacks, and the recent alien infestation. Those incidents are the reason we exist. We are not authorized to take over any government."

"And yet you hold your own government hostage."

"We have no other choice. We thought that we could stay hidden and complete our mission through handlers in the government. However, President Fenton made the mistake of trying to destroy us. We cannot die. Only God can take our lives. We have the power to destroy everything, but we don't want to do that. We want peace on Earth, and the best way to achieve that is for all countries to lay down their weapons of war and live in peace."

"I understand that other countries have offered to take you in and protect you. If your own government won't do that, why haven't you considered their offers?"

"We have considered them, and if our government doesn't do as we wish, we will go somewhere else."

Anna smiled, a sign that she realized that the US government was not going to be a threat to her country under these circumstances. But the next question threw a monkey wrench into that belief.

"You say that you are obeying God in what you do, but which God?"

"There is only one God, and that's who we obey."

"How do you know that there is only one God?"

"Because the person who appeared to me while I was in a coma told me that, and I believe him because all of the things he told me came true."

"Who was this person who told you this?"

"I don't know, but he was a messenger from God."

She stared at him for a few moments before smiling. "Thank you for talking to us."

Robert nodded and vanished.

This interview became viral, and it resulted in a demonstration in front of the White House. People were holding up signs that read 'Save our Superheroes', and 'We Love the Superheroes', and 'The Superheroes belong to us'. They were also making lots of noise to make sure that the president and his advisers would listen to their protest.

President Prescot asked Robert if he would agree to a discussion in the Oval Office. He accepted and appeared there alone.,

"Congress has passed a bill that will establish a protocol for how we deal with you. Its passage in the Senate is certain. However, we're having a problem getting anyone to agree to be your handlers.

"What about the two FBI agents we dealt with?"

"They left the service."

"Get them back. Offer them more money and benefits. I don't care what you need to do, but get it done. The same goes for Jason, the NASA administrator."

Robert didn't wait for a response. He was certain that they would comply with his wishes, but when he finally did meet with Mark and Joe, the two FBI agents, his anger swelled up again.

"We didn't quit," Mark told him. "They fired us."

"Those dirty bastards! If I had known that there would have been a lot more disappearances."

"The same thing happened to Jason. NASA canned him without cause."

"I assume that they reinstated him."

"Yes, but he's not happy with what happened."

Robert frowned. "I will make my disgust with what happened very clear. I guarantee that it won't happen again."

"They say that you made the former president vanish. Where did he go?"

Robert shrugged. "I don't know, but he's not coming back."

"Well," Mark said after a sigh. "I suppose that's a proper revenge for what he did."

"Yes, but I regret it. I didn't receive my powers to take revenge. This whole affair has created a crisis for us. We've had to move our home to a secluded location and protect it with a force field to make it invisible and impenetrable. My wife was unceremoniously fired from her job as the manager of a credit union. Not only did they fire her without notice they emptied her account. She was so angry that she went there and broke the administrator's nose."

Mark smiled. "I can't imagine how they thought they were going to steal the funds of a superhero."

"I guess they suffered a lapse of reason."

"And then some."

They laughed.

Robert took his leave and went to NASA headquarters in Washington to talk to Jason. He was greeted with cheers. The staff realized that he had saved their institution from being reduced to a shadow of its former glory by an idiot president that didn't believe in science.

Jason was especially happy. He had been deprived of any position with another institution. Now, he was back in a job that he loved. "I am most grateful for restoring my position."

"You will remain here as long as you wish. I can assure you that there will be no more nonsense from the government. They will do what's necessary to keep NASA the primary space institution on this planet, or I will kick ass."

That made them cheer again.

Although the government was apologetic for what had happened, the superheroes realized that they would have to stay vigilant because there were no guarantees. What they had was a stalemate, a concession that allowed them to do their mission without being under stress from the government. It was not perfect, but it was a reasonable working relationship.

The fact that the superheroes had become angry and made their displeasure known was inevitable. Fortunately for them and the world their anger did not explode into mass destruction. Instead, they used threats to get the deal they wanted, one that allowed them to operate without having to destroy the very system they needed to survive. One side effect was the elimination of nuclear war and the promotion of diplomacy to solve both local and regional conflicts. If nothing else, this would be their greatest achievement.

Robert never did know the identity of the man he met while in a coma. He didn't resemble any historical religious figure. Maybe it was in order to demonstrate that God does not discriminate. The Vestal Virgins were obviously angels assigned to protect and guide the superheroes. The Steris family assumed that what they went through was an experiment, but in many ways, it wasn't, but rather a means to an end. The Steris family was not a perfect group of people. They were normal working-class people without any special talents or notoriety. But they had the good sense to realize that their fate and the fate of mankind involved coming to an agreement with the government to keep the peace, even if that peace was fragile.

Thanks for reading and commenting. I've has this idea floating in my mind for a very long time and decided to let it out.