Zarkenis Ultima wrote:-snip-
Craig Thomsen/Silverwing
A Good Man Goes to War - Revelations
Craig smiled, despite the blinding flash of light, welcoming the sun. It had been so long since he had felt its sight. He had been given barely enough food and water to keep him alive, and right now, all he wanted was
Etla and some donuts. One of those wishes had been granted,
Craig gazing upon the armored figure, drinking in every contour of the Rainborn. "
Etla." he whispered, the wind carrying that beloved name to heights and depths unknown.
Silent tears began running down his cheeks, tears of pain, and yet, tears of love and freedom too. He did not watch the fight, but told his armor to start a medical examination. It was not promising, at all. He was malnourished, his body weight very low as a result,
Craig feeling his ribs which were showing. His shoulder was dislocated and infected, not seriously enough to require an amputation(he shuddered at that thought), but bad. The ribs that were showing were the ones not broken, and it was becoming a bit hard to breathe, along with several other fractures. But worst of all, something was seriously wrong with his heart, the armor not being sure of what, as
Craig hadn't spent much time on its medical functions, which he regretted now. Luckily, he had one of his nanobots with him. Fishing it out and popping it into his mouth, he used his powers to guide it, the nanobot delivering a live feed to his HUD.
He winced at the sight of his heart, appearing nothing like a human heart should. His nanobot, which had been equipped with knowledge of every medical condition known to man had only a vague idea, but it predicted that if the situation remained like this, his heart would completely fail in a few weeks.
Craig clenched a fist, turning it off. That was unacceptable. He would not die after all he had gone through, not after he had just reunited with
Etla. He turned his attention to other matters, accessing the Internet for the first time in a year, learning, among other things, of the Registration Act. He had to tell the world, and it was even more urgent now. Registration was bad enough, but the government developing contingency plans against superheroes was intolerable.
He fell to the ground, opening his helmet quickly enough to cough blood,
Craig staying there until he ensured that it was all out, for now, at least. He looked up, seeing that
Etla had finished with the Red Hulk, and he cried again, looking upon her emerald eyes. And he rose, and they ran to each other,
Craig's chafed lips meeting hers, their arms encircling one another.
He pulled away, reluctantly, for his heart was already beating too fast. "Let's go home," he said, simply wanting to leave that place of pain. And leave they did,
Etla carrying him bridal style, the sun at their backs, while
Craig spoke with haunted eyes of what had been done for him. And at long last, they arrived at the doors of Thomsen Tech HQ, everyone there letting out a great cheer that he had come home alive.
There were many hugs and smiles as
Craig and
Etla slowly made their way up to the floor that was solely theirs, the last employee to convey his wishes being Rob, who smiled at the two of them. "Is there anything I can do for you, sir?"
"Yes, actually."
Craig said, snapping his fingers. "Get me a damn donut. Get us a lot of donuts. Buy that donut shop if you have to, Rob!"
Craig issuing a smile at that. "And release a press statement, that
Craig Thomsen is back, and that I'll be making a statement soon myself. More than a statement, actually, but that's besides the point."
And then the two of them headed into the room,
Craig finally getting to take of his armor. He looked to
Etla again, memorizing the sight of her again, before speaking. "I'm sorry,
Etla. I'm sorry that I couldn't escape sooner. I tried 67 times..."
Craig trailed off, thinking of them, tears gathering in his eyes yet again. He wasn't sure exactly how many times he had cried today. "And there's another thing. The world needs to know what the government is planning, what it is doing. And I'm going to show them exactly that. I obtained the recordings of that year, every whip, every cut, every broken bone. If you don't want to watch I understand
Etla, because those recordings are going to show me screaming, they're going to show
Craig Thomsen being broken. And I don't want you to be broken too. You were the only thing that kept me sane,
Etla. Thank you, for that, and also for rescuing me. And after all this is said and done, I owe you a year's worth of vigorous activity,"
Craig winking at the Rainborn.
A short while later,
Craig still not even having taken a shower, he began, Rob centering a TV Camera on him, the video being uploaded live to all the social media sites, the news networks also quickly picking it up. "Hello, America, and those of you around the world. For those of you who don't know me, my name is
Craig Thomsen, founder of Thomsen Tech. A year ago, I disappeared. And now, I'm here to tell what exactly happened. Everything I will be telling you is the absolute, unedited truth. So open your mind, watch very closely. And after, talk with your family, your loved ones, your friends, your coworkers, about what you've just been shown."
Taking a deep breath, he began, "A year ago, I was kidnapped and taken to a secret U.S military base after refusing to make contingency plans and weapons designed to disable or kill superpowered beings. I was tortured, because of my refusal, for one, terrible year. And don't think, because they failed to obtain anything from me, they aren't right now creating plans to kill superheroes, plans to create prisons, plans to hurt those who have helped billions, those who have saved this planet on multiple occasions. I obtained the footage of this recording. You can have the experts check it, it has not been doctored in anyway. And let's watch together, people of Earth, of what was done to me. A warning, to all those watching, that I cannot stress enough. This is graphic content. Do not allow your children to watch this."
And so, they watched together,
Craig and the world of his torture. They watched the first day,
Craig's voiceover describing the perpetrators and his torturers and their powers. And on, and on it went, for hours. "The entirety of the torture will be uploaded to social media sites, divided into days. 12 Hours of Torture, every day of the week. At night, I was hung up on chains with the lights on to prevent me sleeping. In the morning, I would be woken up by a bucket of ice-cold water, a knife, a shot right by head. I was fed slops to keep me barely alive, the only water I got was from waterboarding and the previously mentioned buckets,"
Craig standing up and showing his scars, his dislocated shoulder and its infection, every gruesome detail. "And now some of you may be wondering why I just didn't give up and give them what they wanted. But I did not do so. Not because I don't love my country, not because I thought I was strong enough, but because I believe in freedom, justice, and liberty. Those words are supposed to describe our great nation, and those words do not describe the Registration Act, nor these contingency plans. The price of freedom is high, our Founding Fathers learned that. It has always been since. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."
"And so, if you still don't believe me, then let these next days go unaltered, continue about your daily lives. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me. Talk to everyone you know, share this video, write your President, write your Representatives in government and the U.N. Voice your disagreement and let us all come together to discuss a solution that promotes both safety and freedom, a solution which is of the people, by the people and for the people. " He stared at the camera for a moment, gazing into its depths, his eyes sincere. "Farewell."
Some time later,
Craig was feeling quite better. The reason being that he had called his old friend, Valancy Stirling, Valancy having told him of her healing abilities a few years back. She had managed to fix his broken bones, his infected shoulder and all the other injuries. All save the scars, which would remain for the most part on his back, and his heart.
"There's one more thing," said
Craig, looking at
Etla, "that I have to do." He pulled up a hologram of his failing heart. "Thanks to the torture,"
Craig pausing for a moment as if recalling memories, "my heart is failing. There is no Earth medicine or treatment that could fix it. "So I ask," a small smile growing on his face, "How does one make a Core?"