Chapter 18: Chapter 17: Press Conference

Notes: Btw, regarding the Hellfire of the previous chapter. I just simplified it in the description but the name Hellfire is just to put a name to Ghost Rider's power and not just like raw fire in his Inventory.

Also, Ghost Rider does exist in this universe and SHIELD is already aware of his existence.

But he will only be shown later on in the future when MC starts to deal with demons and stuff in a future arc.

Chapter 17: Press Conference

After finally calming Natasha down, the two began to talk again.

Of course, Benjamin had already powered down.

Natasha held her forehead in exasperation.

“I’m not even going to ask how that happened…but why are you telling all this to me now?”

“Well, I was told to come out to the public that I have abilities. Ah, Captain Holt already knows I have powers from last night. But he doesn’t know everything. I also don’t plan to show all my abilities in the press conference later. Mainly just the super strength and electric skin bit. Oh, and the symbiote thing I guess.”

Hearing that, Natasha looked concerned.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? You do know that this will only put a target on your back.”

“It’s okay. I have the means to defend myself.”

“Sigh, you’re already more powerful than me now. How about joining the Avengers? Or SHIELD?”

Benjamin shook his head.

“I’ll be there if you need me, but I still prefer to be in the police force.”

“Alright.”

Since today was a special occasion, he was asked to wear the formal police uniform for when he appears later in the press conference.

When Benjamin appeared in the precinct, everyone suddenly quieted down and turned to him while speaking in hushed tones.

It would appear that Captain Holt had already notified them first.

While Benjamin was wondering what to say in this awkward situation, Jake appeared unpunctual.

“Wassup people!? Hey, what’s wrong? Why is everyone staring at Ben like that? Why am I staring at Ben like this?”

Confused and joking like always, Jake asked.

Boyle answered frankly.

“Ben has superpowers.”

“Oh…wait WHAT!?”

Jake didn’t react at first but when it sunk in, he was shocked.

“YOU HAVE SUPERPOWERS!?”

“Uhh, yeah.”

Benjamin answered hesitantly when he saw Jake’s seemingly glowing eyes when looking at him.

“THAT IS SO COOL! What are they? Can you fly? Super strength? Shoot lasers in your eyes? Ooh ooh! X-ray vision!? Freeze Breath!?”

Benjamin sweated.

I’m not Superman!

He smiled wryly and answered.

“Well, I do have super strength. I can also generate electricity.”

Benjamin showed them his fingers and suddenly, sparks flew out from between his fingers, creating a line of electricity like a taser.

“WOW! You’re like a taser!...A Human Taser!”

“...No.”

What the hell is that Human Torch ripoff name…

“Oh come on! Wait, did you already have a superhero name? How about…Captain Taser? Detective Taser? Officer Taser?”

“No! Stop it with the taser thing already!”

Benjamin could only roll his eyes at Jake who kept thinking of his superhero name.

Fortunately, Captain Holt had stepped in to save the day.

“Detective Freed, you’re here. Follow me.”

Benjamin sighed in relief and quickly left Jake as he followed Captain Holt to the press conference room prepared.

Inside, several press reporters and journalists are already present and patiently waiting.

When they appeared, they were instantly greeted with several flashes of cameras which made Benjamin dizzy for a bit.

Superpowers or not, it’s a bit uncomfortable to suddenly be pointed with lots of cameras like this for the first time.

Still, Benjamin quickly adjusted and walked to the side of the stage along with Captain Holt.

On the stage with them was another man in his mid-40s with a well-trimmed beard and piercing gaze. This was Major Johnson.

When Benjamin knew of this person, he was dumbfounded.

The reason being…his first name was actually Dwayne!

Granted, he looked different from the Dwayne Johnson of his previous world, it was still an amazing coincidence.

Not to mention he also didn’t sully this name as he looked totally ripped too.

Before the advent of superheroes and supervillains, Major Johnson was one of the down-to-earth heroes back then.

Major Johnson tapped on the microphone a few times to signal everyone to quiet down and start the conference.

“Everyone. As you may have heard already, recently, our team uncovered a wide-scale kidnapping case that has been going on for a while now.”

“The culprit is a foreign criminal organization that possesses some…unconventional means. I won’t elaborate further on this organization for now as this isn’t the point of this press conference.”

“We all know that the world is already changing ever since the Battle in New York where we faced the threat of aliens outside our solar system.”

“Not to mention the various kinds of enhanced people that started to pop up since then.”

“These enhanced individuals possess all kinds of unconventional means, leading to the creation of various unconventional groups among us as well.”

“SHIELD, The Avengers, The X-Men…These are the few groups of enhanced individuals recognized by the government to combat the so-called ‘super villains’.”

“But this doesn’t mean that there aren’t any enhanced individuals amongst the common populace.”

“While a portion of them choose to stay neutral and hide in order to protect themselves, some decide to use their gifts for petty crimes. These people are too small in the eyes of those big organizations so for most cases, us police are the ones who try to contain them.”

“But we’re just normal people too. There’s a limit to the things that we can do with the limited equipment that we have.”

“Of course, there are also good people like Spiderman who try their best to keep the neighborhood safe for the little people like us.”

“But while I admire such people…in the face of the law, what they are doing is still considered vigilantism.”

Major Johnson paused briefly and turned to look at Benjamin.

“Everyone, let me present to you all Detective Benjamin Freed.”

Benjamin caught the cue and took a step forward.

“It was Detective Freed here who was able to put a stop to the criminal organization’s plot last night by himself. He is an enhanced individual himself.”

As soon as he said that, countless flashes and clamors erupted again.

“There will be time for questions later. Detective Freed, introduce yourself first.”

Benjamin nodded and started to speak.

“My name is Benjamin Freed. And I am…Iron Man.”

“...”

“I’m sorry, that was a joke. You all looked too tense.”

Everyone was speechless.

As this was broadcasted LIVE, those watching were also speechless.

In particular, Tony Stark turned on the TV as he was taking a break from tinkering with something.

When he saw a familiar face, he couldn’t help but see what this was all about.

“Pfff!”

When Benjamin said that line, he was drinking water that Pepper just handed to him and ended up spitting his drink.

“Dude…”

Bruce Banner was there as well and happened to be on the receiving end of the water spit.

Back in the conference, Major Johnson coughed and glared at Benjamin.

“Ahem. Please move on.”

“Ah well, I am Benjamin Freed. My abilities include super strength and electric discharge capable of incapacitating a normal person. Also, I don’t really have any superhero names or something. I know you press like to name people up. Please don’t. Feel free to simply call me Detective Freed.”

Major Johnson sighed and shook his head.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“With that, I hereby announce the establishment of the Enhanced Police Division. Of which Benjamin Freed here will take the position of Captain. So call him Captain Freed.”

“Huh?”

Benjamin was shocked as he didn’t expect this.

I didn’t think I would suddenly get promoted into Captain…isn’t this too fast?

“This division will mainly take in cases that involve enhanced individuals in robbery, kidnapping, murder, and such. He will be granted a subdue-first-question-later authority provided that there is enough evidence to amount suspicion of a crime.”

“Of course, they are also approved to help normal cases from time to time and the members are free to patrol the city as they see fit.”

“I would also like to tell the enhanced people watching this right now…you are free to apply to this division and help us make the world a safer place. If you wish to maintain your anonymity, that’s also fine. You can apply with your mask on.”

“Of course, this doesn’t mean you are free to do whatever you want. For one, killing is prohibited. Two, you must alert Captain Freed first before taking on a big case. For immediate cases like mugging and such, there is no need provided that there is evidence of the action afterward. You will also be provided with a small body cam that you can turn on and off for providing evidence.”

“More details will be provided in the future.”

“I look forward to meeting you all.”

“We will now take questions.”

As soon as Major Johnson finished speaking, everyone erupted with tons of questions that needed to be answered.

After all…although he tried to explain it simply…this was simply an act of ‘legalizing’ the vigilantes!

“Alright calm down! You first!”

Major Johnson pointed at a middle-aged man reporter at the front.

“Regarding the organization responsible for the mass kidnapping. Which organization is responsible for this?”

“That’s classified. Next!”

Next was a female reporter that looked quite pretty.

“This is for Captain Freed. Are you currently seeing someone? Do you want to go out later?”

“That’s classified. Next!”

Benjamin tried to keep a straight face as he said that and moved on.

Natasha, watching this from a TV at SHIELD, chuckled at that.

The questions continued.

After a while, some questions were answered, some were ignored, and finally, someone asked the big question.

“Captain Freed! Do you have any special suit or something?”

Benjamin raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“I do. Wanna see?”

He does!?

Captain Holt and Major Johnson also looked at him in surprise.

The next moment, Benjamin was engulfed with a white substance that covered his body.

What appeared next was a different outfit.

Black pants, black shirt, and a black tie. Covering his whole body is a pure white trench coat.

He’s kinda like Constantine but…black and white.

Benjamin actually wanted it to be mostly white but then thought that the media will surely find a way to call him racist afterward so he changed it like this.

“Well, I can actually change the appearance at will but this is my suit.”

Benjamin only decided to look like this cause the symbiote form is too creepy after all.

At the same time, he can use that symbiote form for more covert cases.

Eh? How did the white symbiote make a black color?

Details details…

Anyway.

As expected, a lot more questions were raised but Major Johnson cut them off.

“Alright, that is all. Thank you for attending.”

Just like that, the three left the room and escaped the horde of reporters.

Major Johnson looked at Benjamin and asked.

“What is that? Some kind of nanotech?”

“Um, I guess?”

“Where did you even get that?”

“I just happened to get it?”

“...”

Alright, Benjamin had no intention of telling anyone the origins of the symbiote.

It’s just too troublesome.

Major Johnson shook his head.

“Fine, have it your way. Well, as I said there a while ago, you are now the Captain of a new division. I expect great things from you.”

“Uhh, regarding that…is this really okay? You even want people to apply with their mask on…”

“It’s fine. We already dealt with all the paperwork and got approval from the above. Just do your job well.”

Benjamin nodded.

He knew Major Johnson must’ve pulled a lot of favors to make this happen…but it’s fine. With Benjamin manning the team, he’s confident that no spies or corruption will reach them.

Even if there were spies, it would be the ones he allowed to stay.

“Understood…but…who else is in there with me?”

“Oh it's just you right now.”

“...”

What kind of lousy division is this!?

“Then…where am I stationed?”

“There is a police storage building not far from here that’s a bit abandoned. It’s currently being renovated to be an office. For now, just stay here and wait for it to finish.

“Okay…”

Benjamin sighed and shook his head.

Anyway, at least he was promoted to Captain already.

“Go home and rest. You will be busy starting tomorrow.”

“Doing what? Are there cases already?”

“Interviewing your members of course.”

“Ah…I wonder if a lot will even turn up.”

Major Johnson looked out the window and sighed.

“Well, one can only hope.”

After some time, Benjamin reached home and slumped down the bed.

Man…today was a lot more tiring than I thought it was…

He couldn’t help but think so.

Although he was mentally prepared for the consequences of revealing his powers, it was still quite tiring when all things are said and done.

Just the commute back home and he was already recognized by a lot of people…

At this moment, his phone rang.

Benjamin looked at his phone and saw it was Susan who was calling.

Benjamin wondered if she was calling because of the press conference or if this was a booty call.

“Hey Sue. What’s up?”

“Detective! I saw the news! Oh wait, I guess you’re Captain now. Should I call you Captain?”

“How about just call me Benjie if you don’t want to use Ben.”

“Haha! Benjie it is then. So? You really have superpowers? Is that why you can last so long in bed?”

Benjamin coughed to clear his throat.

“T-that’s not related!...Probably…”

Goddamn Super Stud Serum!

[...It’s really not meant for that!]

Shut up System. No one believes you.

[...]

“Anyway. It’s true that I have powers. Why? Do you need an electrician maybe?”

“Oh? That’s not a bad idea! Mr. Electrician, can you please fix my light bulb?”

Susan’s tone suddenly turned seductive.

“...Address.”

“I’ll text it.”

“I’m on my way!”

Alright, this was just another booty call in the end!