Boom!
Audiences across the globe boiled over; Awakened ones in particular were pushed to the peak of fury.
Everyone knew the Black Queen was Pioneer Company's flagship star. If turning other Awakened into test subjects could be excused as a fringe practice, the fact that even the Black Queen had been experimented on proved Pioneer was targeting every Awakened.
So why, exactly, did Pioneer so vigorously back the awakened one act?
Was it for humanity's sake—or to secure easier access to guinea pigs?
The corner of Fang Yuan's mouth lifted; he instantly had Vought CEO Murray and his three flagship newspapers throw every resource they had into steering the narrative.
Supporters of the awakened one act had wielded Pioneer Company and Salvador as weapons, ramming the legislation forward.
Now that Pioneer had dropped dead overnight, the Act would suffer the rebound.
The louder its boosters had drummed up support, the fiercer the backlash would be.
Why else had Fang Yuan taken the hits without hitting back, even fanning the flames?
Because he knew it would all end up working in his favor.
He had said enemies are just another resource.
The joint FBI–X-Men operation ended in total victory for both sides, yet neither felt much like celebrating.
On the X-Men side, Raven, Alex and the rest on scene lost their composure, railing at reporters about Pioneer's crimes; Angel and Darwin vowed to hunt down every last participant.
Even the ever-cool Charles stood with Erik, demanding the government give the Awakened an accounting—Pioneer's deep official ties were common knowledge.
Barely half an hour after the news broke, Fang Yuan swaggered to the airport to catch a flight to Washington.
Before the cameras he declared he was off to see President Kennedy and insisted the administration investigate and explain.
While posturing, he snarled out the key line—
"The awakened one act? It's obviously a law designed to persecute Awakened. Vought will never allow it to pass!"
"Vought's creed has always been peaceful coexistence between Awakened and everyone else—but if Pioneer represents the government's real stance, Vought can drop that creed."
With that, Fang Yuan turned and boarded; the surrounding reporters, high on adrenaline, scrambled to file the story.
Vought abandoning peaceful coexistence?
What were they planning?
Many wondered: would Magneto's choice in x-men: first class now become reality?
It was the first time Vought had sounded so radical, yet surprisingly many viewers felt it was only right.
Squids get herded into nets, have their context erased, and still play the victim worldwide for decades.
The Awakened haven't done anything out of line; under Vought's lead they've visibly tried to integrate—how could this treatment not enrage people?
Frye, however, felt the World spin when he learned Pioneer had been experimenting on Awakened.
He had no proof, but his gut said Fang Yuan had to be behind it.
With the vote on the awakened one act looming, the timing of this catastrophe—hitting its biggest booster—was almost too perfect.
And it was the FBI that dug it up; Frye knew plenty of people would like to see him drop dead alongside Pioneer.
Veteran that he was, Frye quickly regained his balance.
He'd allied with Fang Yuan; the better Fang Yuan did, the better off he'd be. Even without this mess, plenty still wanted him dead.
Meanwhile, President Kennedy realized he'd been boxed in.
The uproar over the awakened one act had reached his desk; as President he could hardly ignore it.
Like Frye, he'd planned to stay out—he'd only just struck a balance among the powers-that-be and couldn't risk it for Vought.
Though deeply entangled with Fang Yuan, Kennedy still treated him as no more than a partner, never confiding fully.
Besides…his own crisis had passed, so at first he stayed on the sidelines.
But Kennedy, himself an Awakened, privately opposed the Act. Without openly saying so, he quietly stalled it in Congress; otherwise it might have flown through.
Then Pioneer announced it was building devices to detect Awakened, and Kennedy could sit still no longer—the devices threatened him personally.
So he had Frye stick his nose into Patrick's assassination; outsiders thought he was defending the Civil Rights Movement, but Kennedy was protecting himself.
Never had he imagined Pioneer would go this far.
"Experiment on Awakened? How dare they?" he muttered.
News that Fang Yuan was flying straight to Washington told him Fang Yuan was forcing him to pick a side—now.
From here on, fence-sitting was impossible.
Though the public didn't know he was Awakened, everyone knew his platform opposed discrimination.
If he backed civil rights yet turned a blind eye to discrimination against Awakened, what then?
Kennedy knew that once he openly stood with the Awakened, he would be shackled to Fang Yuan forever.
Could he say no?
No.
To champion civil rights while ignoring the Awakened would shatter his political identity—fatal for a President, especially with an election year looming.
Next year was election year.
Kennedy exhaled in frustration and replayed how Fang Yuan had saved him from the life-and-death crisis.
Back off the Federal Reserve, letting an Awakened President stay in office.
Green-light a bigger South Vietnam War, letting Fang Yuan muscle into the military-industrial game.
Support the Civil Rights Movement—great for Kennedy's popularity, but it also left him no way out.
If he abandoned civil rights now, his prestige would collapse overnight.
Only now did he see Fang Yuan had meant for the Awakened to ride that very wave.
In the end, Fang Yuan had walked off with every prize.
"Maybe…Fang Yuan even had a hand in Pioneer's sudden demise?" Kennedy mused.
He shook his head in grudging admiration, then ordered his Brain Trust to draft a pro-Awakened speech.
He chose Fang Yuan, knowing he could never again step off that boat.
Yet Kennedy also realized that, while Fang Yuan had reaped huge gains, he himself had profited plenty.
What he admired—and feared—most about Fang Yuan was this: Fang Yuan always made sure everyone got a slice.
That was why, knowing his ulterior motives, people still followed him gladly.
If so, Kennedy didn't mind jumping in to help Fang Yuan bury the awakened one act for good.
You will get 90 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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