CBS NEWS BULLETIN 7 PM DECEMBER 25TH 1963
ANNOUNCER: We interrupt your regular scheduled programming with this CBS News Bulletin, regarding the situation in Santo Marco. Here with the latest development is Walter Cronkite at the CBS News Room in New York City.
SCREEN: [Walter Cronkite is sitting at a desk in the otherwise near-deserted studio office, christmas decorations can be seen hanging on the walls behind him and there is a small, decorative christmas tree standing on the desk next to the phone. Rather than his usual impeccable suit and tie, Cronkite is dressed casually, with a sweater covered in christmas motifs.]
CRONKITE: Hello, and Merry Christmas to all of you at home, this is Walter Cronkite with CBS News. We've just gotten reports from our anchor station in Brazil that the attempted coup in Santo Marco by the supremacist group The Brotherhood Of... (Cronkite seems somewhat baffled by what he's reading) EVIL Mutants has been successfully thwarted by the joint efforts of The Avengers and an unaffiliated group of mutant operatives known as the X-Men. Both teams were deployed early on Christmas Day at the request of President Kennedy in the hopes of preventing the situation from escalating, which they appear to have succeeded in. Though uncomfirmed, we have recieved reports that there's been thankfully little bloodshed, and the situation appears to have been resolved. Two members of the Brotherhood have been taken into custody, including the leader, terrorist and mutant supremacist Magneto, who's been sought by the FBI and the National Security Council since the Cape Citadel incident earlier this year....
...
"Why did you put a muzzle on him?"
I watch as the blue-clad SHIELD agents begin to load the unconscious Magneto into the helicopter, securely strapped onto a gurney to keep his broken arms steady. And for some reason, they put one of those Hannibal Lecter-style muzzles on the guy.
"Seriously, why is he wearing that thing?" I turn to Cap, who's watching alongside me "He's not a cannibal, they're not in danger of being bitten if he wakes up, they're in danger of him shoving a rebar through their skull! Which none of THAT-" I motion towards the restraints holding him to the gurney "will prevent at all by the way."
"I'm sure they know what they're doing, Sunshine"
"Hey, I'm just saying, it was kind of a pain in the ass for us to beat the guy, it would be nice if they could hold him in custody for the rest of the day atleast."
Both our teams have gathered together in the courtyard, the members who were sent out to draw Magneto and Quicksilver away from the city came limping in shortly after Pietro disappeared. We all managed to get through the fight surprisingly unscathed, though both Beast and Cyclops ended up with some minor injuries in the battle, which they're currently being looked over by a pair of SHIELD medics by one of the transports. Cyclops, his suit pulled down to his waist, is having his shoulder wound stitched and patched over, Jean standing nervously at his side and watching, while Beast had to get his nose reset after getting punched at super speed. The Hulk and Thor managed to get through the scuffle without any injuries, though Hulk showed up with his bodysuit in shreds, apparently the result of Magneto pelting him with old mines. Whatever damage that did, if any, has long since healed up, but the bodysuit is in rags.
Further down the street, Magneto's soldiers are being herded into a prisoner transport, and the citizens, who had finally gathered up the courage to venture outside once it became clear the battle was done, are staring at them nervously. A few people dressed in military uniform, presumably the Santo Marco militia, are among them, glaring furiously at the men who terrorized their city and kept them from protecting it, and I'm guessing finding out that most of the enemy wasn't even real probably isn't making them feel any better. I doubt they would have been able to deal with the Brotherhood, but they could definetly have handled the mercenaries had they known about Masterminds illusion, there were only about 12 of them. If I were in their place, I'd be looking for payback too, and they might just get it.
Not sure how the jurisdiction works here, they'll have to figure it out with SHIELD. They're not getting their hands on Magneto or Mastermind though, they're getting shipped straight to a high-tech holding cell to wait for trial.
A familiar smell alerts me, and I turn around to see Nick Fury stomping towards us in a cloud of cigar smoke. "Captain, ya can't let decent folks have a nice, peaceful christmas, can ya? Ya gotta drag us all the way outta here ta' mop up yer latest bullshit!"
Cap just smiles at Fury's bluster "Please Nick, you haven't had a quiet christmas since you stepped into that recruitment office in '37, I doubt you'd know what to do with it if you saw it."
"Bah!" Fury says in a puff of smoke, no real force behind his bluster "Never thought I'd say this to you lot, never had much use for the pajamas police, but ya did good work here today. SHIELD's been after this Magneto creep fer months now, but not one damn bit of luck until now, it's like he just vanished off the face of the Earth!"
"He did" Both Fury and Cap turn to stare at me "Asteroid M?" Blank stares "Oh uh, I guess you wouldn't know yet. Okay, so funny story, apparently there's an asteroid up there that Magneto's been using as a hideaway for a while now, it's actually some pretty impressive work even if it was done by a megalomaniac. Got a space base on it and everything. Guess it's pretty much free real estate now since the Brotherhood ain't coming back to it anytime soon."
Fury's face goes blank, his cigar drooping comically in his mouth.
"Oh, right, that's probably a bad thing, huh?"
...
AN NBC SPECIAL REPORT, 7: 30 PM, DECEMBER 25TH, 1963
SCREEN: [Johnny Carson is sitting at a newsdesk, a large graphic of Santa Claus on the wall behind him along with the text "Merry Christmas from NBC". A Christmas tree is standing by the side of the desk, only partially in frame of the camera. Carson is dressed in his usual suit, but with the addition of a tie decorated with christmas bells]
CARSON: Hello, this is Johnny Carson, wishing all of you tuning in a Merry Christmas. As you know, this would be the starting time of this years Christmas edition of The Tonight Show, featuring our guest, Mr. Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four, but due to the attempted coup in Santo Marco, we will be using the next 15 minutes to update our viewers of the developments there before moving on to our scheduled programming. So please stay tuned, we'll return in 15 minutes with our guest, with our guest, Mr. Johnny Storm.
NARRATOR: NBC NEWS Presents: THE CHRISTMAS WAR: MUTANTS IN SANTO MARCO! Now here is NBC News Correspondent Frank McGee!
SCREEN: [A besbectacled older man, dressed in a normal business suit, is sitting in a different studio than Carson, the backdrop plain with no text or decorations]
MCGEE: This is Frank McGee, on behalf of NBC News. Tonight, we'll be taking a look into the shocking events that occured early on Christmas Day in Santo Marco, and the subsequent response by United States authorities. As most of you will know, a group identifying themselves as the Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants attacked the presidential palace in the early hours of the day, led by the superhuman fugitive Magneto, himself already wanted for several acts of terrorism on United States soil. According to eyewitness testimony, Magneto was accompanied by an army of military personnel, who took control over the streets and forced the citizenry indoors within hours, but that virtually all of these soldiers mysteriously disappeared some time later. Operatives from the international peacekeeping organization SHIELD arrived shortly afterwards to restore order and detain any remaining personnel.
SCREEN: [A large still shot of a group of men in military fatigues being led into an armored van by men in jumpsuits holding guns. A man with an eyepatch smoking a cigar can be seen in the foreground glaring at the camera]
MCGEE: In a move that has been criticized by some members of his own administration, President Kennedy requested the help of the superhuman group The Avengers to stop the coup, but in a statement to the media, it's been revealed that a team of mutant operatives known as the X-Men were also recruited for the mission. Though information on this group is sparse, we here at NBC have uncovered reports that indicate that the X-Men were instrumental in stopping Magneto's attack on Cape Citadel earlier this year. There's also been witness statements indicating that the group was involved in the apprehension of the mutant thief and robber known as The Vanisher.
ARCHIVE FOOTAGE: [A blurred photograph of several people in costume. Details are difficult to make out, but one of the figures is shown flying above the others with a pair of white wings, while the face of the man in front is obscured by a strange glow from his eyes.]
MCGEE: Though the details of the battle between the Brotherhood and The Avengers and X-Men remain sketchy, eyewtitnesses report heavy damage to the presidential palace, and a confrontation on the streets between an unknown male and a woman who fits the description of Avengers member The Wasp. There have been reports of bright flashes of light, and loud impacts both inside the city, and on the outskirts. When the dust had settled, Magneto had been heavily injured, and swiftly taken into custody by the combined forces of both teams, putting an end to the attempted coup. However, even with the crisis averted, several questions now remain. Who are the mysterious X-Men? And what do the existance of mutants mean for America as our nation and the world puts the close on what has been a tumultuous and difficult year?
.....
"It's finished, Bobby..."
Robert Kennedy sighed, letting himself slump back against the couch and release the tension he'd been carrying all afternoon. He pulled off the tie he'd already undone hours ago, tossing the thing aside. At his desk, John placed the phone back on the reciever, before rubbing his face in exhaustion. Jackie walked up behind him, rubbing her husbands shoulders comfortingly.
"Christ, you'd think these assholes would atleast have the decency to wait until after the holidays to pull this kind of crap..."
John simply nodded in agreement, reaching up to hold Jackie's hands as he mulled over the reports he'd just recieved. "Apparently mutant supremacists don't take the holidays off. I'm just glad we got through this with so few fatalities, the last thing we need is a massacre on top of everything else."
"So, President Navidad..?"
John shook his head "The SHIELD guys found him... well, what was left of him when they swept the palace. Apparently he didn't tell Magneto what he wanted to hear. His vice-president will be taking over once things have stabilized again."
"Great, a mutant kills a head of state, that'll be making headlines for a while" Bobby groaned, before sitting back up straight "This is it, John. The genie is officially out of the bottle now, there's no going back after this. Mutants are going to be moving into the public eye after this."
"Mmm, Professor Xavier wasn't too happy about the idea if I recall. Seems to think the rest of us aren't ready for it."
"I doubt we've ever been ready for ANY of the things that's been coming at us over the past few years, but I don't think it matters if Xavier thinks we're ready or not, because it's going to happen anyway. All we get to decide now is how we as a nation is going to deal with it, and as much as I hate to say it, our country doesn't have a good track record with this kind of thing so far. I know we have the election to think about next year, but in my opinion, we're going to have to start pushing harder on the civil rights issue, because this isn't going to fix itself."
"Yeah, I've been thinking about the same thing lately. That maybe I haven't done as much as I could have in this job. Funny how almost being assassinated will put your priorities in order." His hand tightened around Jackies "If we'd died back there in Dallas, what would our legacy have been?"
Bobby shrugged "Guess we'll never know. All we can do now is work towards the future."502