223. When Giants Decide. (Patreon)

President Matthew Ellis POV:

Power doesn’t always announce itself with noise.

Sometimes, it arrives as silence and crawls into every crevice of control.

The kind that settles into a room filled with the most powerful people in a nation and suffocates them.

That was the silence inside the White House Situation Room.

DEFCON 3.

And not because of a foreign missile launch or a rogue state and not even because of a supervillain.

No. The White House is in DEFCON 3 because of one man.

Peter Parker.

I sat at the head of the table, fingers interlocked, posture relaxed not because I wasn’t concerned, but because panic at this level becomes contagious. Leadership demanded composure, even when the world was tilting.

“Sir,” the Chief of Staff began, voice tight but controlled, “we’re confirming large-scale mobilization. Approximately five hundred thousand Spartans have been deployed globally. Seven million conventional troops are moving in coordinated formations. Unknown naval fleets are shifting positions and air superiority units are airborne and eighty thousand Castaferrum drones are now active. Marking half of the estimated combat ready assests of Parker Industries ready for war.”

I didn’t react outwardly.

“Objective?” I asked.

“Capitulation of the Russian Federation,” he replied. “Estimated time to full incursion is under three hours.”

A sovereign nuclear power was about to be… dismantled like scrap in three hours as if it was nothing more than a mismanaged corporation.

One of the generals leaned forward, seizing the moment.

“This is our opportunity, Mr. President,” he said, voice sharp with ambition. “We move now. Seize Parker Industries facilities across the U.S., Canada, Mexico. Force Parker into compliance. His infrastructure is vulnerable domestically...”

I raised a hand and he stopped mid-sentence.

“How much,” I asked calmly, “of the United States nuclear triad is currently under Parker Industries control?”

There was confusion at the room as my question technically made no sense and then the intercom clicked.

A familiar voice filled the room.

“The entirety of the United States nuclear triad, as well as ninety-seven percent of conventional weapons systems, are currently under Parker Industries control. Will that be all, Mr. President?”

I leaned back slightly. “Thank you, Clanker.”

“Always a pleasure.”

The line went dead while the room became colder.

The general who had been speaking earlier looked like someone had just pulled the ground out from beneath him.

I let the silence sit, then I spoke. “Gentlemen. Ladies.”

I looked each of them in the eye.

“It has become abundantly clear that Parker Industries is not separate from the United States. It is the United States.”

No one interrupted.

“Our founding fathers envisioned a nation built on ideals of freedom, justice, the protection of the vulnerable.”

I leaned forward.

“And right now, those ideals are being upheld by a man who is doing what entire governments have failed to do for decades.”

My voice hardened.

“Eradicating child slavery. Ending systemic brainwashing. Destroying an institution that turns young girls into weapons.”

A slow breath.

“We can either stand against that…” I let the implication hang. “Or we can stand with it.”

I rose from my chair.

The decision had already been made in my mind. “I, President Matthew Ellis, 44th President of the United States of America declare war on General Dreykov and his backers within the Russian Federation.”

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, one fist struck the table.

Then another.

Then all of them.

A unified sound of decision.

I will not be the President that besmirches the ideals of the Founding fathers.

President Vladimir Putin POV:

Snow always made Moscow look peaceful.

Like history hadn’t bled into its foundations and our power hadn’t been bought with suffering.

I stood near the window, hands clasped behind my back.

“General Dreykov’s report?” I asked without turning.

My aide spoke carefully.

“Mr. President… General Dreykov reports success. His agents have located Peter Parker and multiple Avengers in Budapest. He believes Parker will not escape.”

I closed my eyes briefly.

Belief.

Such a fragile thing.

“And you?” I asked, turning slightly. “What do you think, Tatiana?”

Tatiana Moskova stood quietly, she is was a Widow once. Now… something more. Now my daughter.

“My honest opinion?” She said.

I nodded. “He’s already dead.”

“Even with leverage in the shape of Peter Parker’s biological mother and sister it won’t matter. Everything we know suggests he doesn't form attachments the way normal people do. His real parents are Benjamin and May Parker.”

I studied her. “You sound certain.”

“Because I am.”

“Dreykov mistakes biology for leverage. Always has and always will. Parker understands something far more dangerous.”

“And that is?”

She met my gaze. “Choice.”

That… resonated.

I turned away, walking toward the desk.

Power was not holding something, it was deciding what mattered and what didn’t.

I picked up the landline, dialed a number.

A cheerful voice answered. “You have reached Parker Industries Helpline. How may we help you today?”

“I am Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin,” I said evenly. “President of the Russian Federation.”

A pause. Then, “How may we assist you, Mr. President?”

“I surrender.” I said.

The words felt… strange but not wrong.

“I request sanctuary for my daughters Maria Vorontsova, Tatiana Moskova, Katerina Tikhonova and my ex-wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva.”

“Your surrender has been accepted. Prepare for extraction in ten seconds.” Replied the voice.

“Ten… nine…”

I looked at Tatiana,she didn’t look surprised.

“Eight… seven…”

Perhaps this was inevitable.

“Six… five…”

Empires didn’t fall, they were… replaced.

“Four… three…”

And this one?

It had already been replaced.

“Two… one.”

We disappeared in a flash of blue light.

Peter POV:

Budapest had always been… messy.

Too much history and too many ghosts. Too many people pretending they didn’t bleed the same as everyone else.

And yet here I was, sitting at a table of a restaurant. I was eating like I was on vacation.

“Pass the goulash.” I said casually. Yelena Belova slid the bowl toward me, eyes scanning the rooftops. “There are at least thirty snipers trained on us.” She muttered and I didn’t even look up.

“Thirty-five,” I corrected, taking a spoonful. “Barrett M82s. Wind compensation adjusted. Heart rates elevated, two of them are nervous.”

I took a bite.

“Twenty bike-mounted operatives on standby. One armored vehicle two blocks down.” I chewed thoughtfully. “And one Taskmaster.”

“You’re joking.” Said Clint.

I swallowed. “Nope.”

Yelena let out a low whistle. “Man… makes you wonder what we’ve been doing with our lives.”

She took a bite of chimney cake. “I’ve been to Budapest a thousand times. Never actually… lived in it.”

Natasha smiled.

“First thing I did after escaping Dreykov,” she said, “was eat a chili dog.”

I glanced at her. “American?”

She nodded. “It was messy, spicy and burned my nose. I felt alive.”

Cap chuckled softly.

“After every mission now,” she added, “I take a vacation.”

“Good policy,” I said. “Highly recommend.”

“Assuming we survive this one,” Barton muttered.

“We will.” I replied casually because we already had. They just didn’t know it yet.

Yelena pointed her fork at me. “You know Dreykov fears your wife, right?”

I froze mid-bite and slowly lowered my spoon.

“My wife,” I said calmly, “is a cutie patootie.”

Yelena blinked. “What?”

“I will not tolerate slander against my wife.”

She stared and then snorted. “She’s also a psychological weapon, Parker. Her chatter alone has broken hardened criminals.”

I considered that. “Fair.”

We finished eating. We walked like normal people as if none of this mattered.

Then, a phone rang.

It was an old. Flip-style phone laced deliberately on the sidewalk so that I would notice it.

I picked it up. “Yello.”

An old voice that used arrogance like the tarp that hid cowardice. “I can detonate that device and kill you.”

“Could’ve. As in past tense.” I corrected. “I disabled both the primary and secondary triggers the moment I stepped within a hundred meters of it.”

Then the voice said, “I also have your mother and sister.”

I laughed. It wasn't a chuckle it was a full blown laughter filled with mockery.

“Dreykov,” I said, voice dropping into something colder, “how much do you underestimate me?”

I continued. “Do you really think I didn’t plan for this?”

I looked up at the sky where an invisible network was already in motion.

“Mary Parker. Teresa Parker, I don’t care what you do to them.”

That… landed because it was true and because it wasn’t.

“You’ve already lost,” I continued. “Before this even began.”

Click. I hung up and tossed the phone into the air where it exploded harmlessly like fireworks.

A notification blinked across my HUD.

MIST DEPLOYED

I smiled as phase One was complete.