"First of all, I'd like to say that we all put our faith in The Crush—no one more so than me," Rebellion starts. "No one can be as shocked or disappointed by this terrible outburst as I am. Still, I am pleased to report that The Crush is currently in stable condition and being sedated until such time that his Powers are once again fully under control."
"I can also confirm at this time that The Crush did seem to lose complete control of his Powers, though herologists are still working to determine how or why this might have happened. There's still so much we don't understand about Infini Powers…"
Rebellion takes this moment to exchange a solemn nod with President Victon. President. That's a title that's going to be very difficult to adjust to, he can already tell.
"Whatever happened, it is clear that The Crush is in violation of the terms of his release from The Devoid. As such, we have no choice but to eliminate The Crush in 8th Place," Rebellion finishes. "Though let me be clear, if The Crush was here tonight, his Leaderboard score would have qualified him for elimination regardless. No matter which way you cut this, The Hero Project and The American Protectors will not tolerate such irresponsible and reckless displays."
At this, the live audience erupts into applause. Travis looks around, trying to sort through how he feel about this news….
Travis can only hope this kind of treatment doesn't swing itself his way….
"That leaves us with our Finalist vote for 7th Place," DaHChip announces, after the applause finally dies down. "Obviously we are also missing Lucky tonight, a hero who has worked so hard and sacrificed so much to make it this far in The Hero Project. I know all of our hearts go out to Lucky as we wonder how she is doing."
"Unfortunately," Rexford takes over, "as a result of The Crush's brutal and unprecedented attack, Lucky remains in a comatose state. A team of top herologists and doctors are attending to her and hope for a full recovery, but at this time, they cannot confirm whether Lucky will wake up from this coma."
As this news travels across the auditorium, Travis can feel the mood turning. Whatever anyone's feelings on Lucky might have been, no one wanted to see something like this happen to her. Or any hero, for that matter….
Travis feels like part of him has died, hearing this news about Lucky.
All he wants to do is have Lucky here, to see her again—he can't even begin to fathom the thought that he might not get to.
"There is so much at stake tonight," DaHChip continues. "Our six winners will receive a total sum of $100,000 and sign a one-year contract with America's first government-sanctioned national Powered team, The American Protectors."
"This is an opportunity of a lifetime, one that will change our heroes' lives forever," Rebellion picks up, "so we judges do not take this decision lightly. What happened to Lucky is a terrible tragedy and we wish her a swift recovery. But to our great regret, we still have not to move forward in the competition…."
"As such, we have no choice but to eliminate Lucky in 7th Place."
As Rebellion finishes this sentence, Travis stomach flips over in his body. Not just because of how things turned out for Lucky, but because he realize that….
"We have our six winners right here!" Rexford finally screams, causing the crowd to burst into hysterics.
"Here they are, America!" Covalt then shouts, running across the stage. "I give you your founding roster of The American Protectors! Inherit, Jury, Sky, Asrid, Manbeast, and Null!"
As a confetti shower begins to rain down on the six chosen heroes, Travis clap his hands together and put on a smile.
Even though he's happy for Jenny, even though he knows he did the right thing, even though he's proud of making it as far as he possibly could, and even though he knows he probably wouldn't want to work alongside that particular group of heroes anyway, he still wishes that it was him under those spotlights.
But he knows he'll find another way…
Once all the confetti has fallen and the judges have taken the stage to congratulate the winners, Covalt asks everyone to take their seats once again—which is odd, since Travis thought this would be the big finish of the Finale. But it appears that the producers might have one last trick up their sleeves…
One that he figures out as he see President Victon walk up to a podium on stage, with the ever-stylish Mrs. Victon at his side.
This definitely isn't the way he would have wanted to end his experience on The Hero Project, but he suppose he had better get used to seeing the Victons' faces a whole lot more for the next four years.
"First of all, I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of The Hero Project's winners, who have now become founding members of the brightest hero franchise this nation has ever seen: The American Protectors!"
Victon pauses, letting the applause wash over him before continuing.
"And of course, I'd like to congratulate my son, Jury, on growing into the kind of hero—and the kind of man—I always knew he'd be. I'm proud to serve America standing alongside my family. When you rest your head at night, always know that the Victons will have you covered!"
Despite another enormous reaction from the audience, Travis doesn't think he'll ever find that a particularly comforting notion.
"Choosing these incredible heroes and electing me as your next President was a call, America—a call for greater vigilance as we discover exactly what Powered abilities mean for the future of our nation. And that is a call I mean to answer, a call that The American Protectors is more than prepared to answer. For there is much work to be done."
"While this is a night to be celebrated, it is also one that stands for much more. We arrived here at this joyous occasion with some momentous victories, but also only after surviving some terrible tragedies. If The American Protectors has proven anything, it's that Powered terrorists like Phobus and The NewOrder will not be tolerated."
"But there is something else we have risen to condemn, and that is Unique-Class disaster like the one perpetuated by that true wolf in sheep's clothing, The Crush."
"I stand here to admit to the American public that I place the full weight of The Crush's failure on my own shoulders, as the one who had the greatest hand in placing him here. No one wanted to believe that The Crush had changed more than me. I truly believed that the sickness within him had been cured by our powerful rehabilitative infrastructure, an infrastructure I have dedicated my career to building. And for a time, it appeared to me, to all of us, that The Crush had done all he could to redeem himself."
"But the Power within The Crush, the untold levels of Unique ability, was more than he could handle. And it is our job to now ask if this kind of Power is more than any person can handle."
"Yes, I made a grave mistake with The Crush," President Victon sighs. "But it is not a mistake I intend to make ever again."
"That is why my first act as President-elect will be to announce a new initiative, one that will be administered through The American Protectors to ensure that Unique-Class disasters like The Crush's will not be allowed to happen ever again. We're going to launch a nationwide campaign to learn all that we can about Unique-Class Powers and help Unique Powereds control their considerable talents, harnessing them for maximum good. And we're going to use the resources of our enemies to do so."
As President Victon says this, a machine is rolled out on stage—but not just any machine, it's Phobus's ani-morphing bio-weapon—retrofitted, rearranged and repainted gold and green.
"In conjunction with Meek movement scientists, we have found a way to use the groundbreaking technology used for evil by Phobus and reconfigure it for good—as a tool to help Unique Powereds regulate their considerable abilities."
"In the very near future, we will be asking all Unique Powered citizens to come to a national research center for comprehensive Power testing and, if necessary, commit to Unique therapy using this stunning new piece of technology. We're calling it The Unique Regulator, a groundbreaking therapeutic tool that helps to dampen Unique Powers."
As Victon keeps talking, Travis feel more and more uneasy…
"Although this initiative will not take place until I've officially taken my seat in the Oval Office, I would like to join Rebellion, the leader of The American Protectors, and Rexford Schillers, the team's CEO and chief liaison, in asking our valued Unique Finalist, Gravitate, to volunteer himself as the first participant in this bold new initiative."
As Travis hears this, all of the blood in his veins turns to ice—Victon wants him to do what?
"Gravitate has proven himself a shining example of Unique heroics," President Victon says, his eyes falling directly on Travis. "And as such, we would like him to join us in this show of faith, in front of all of America, to see that the Victon administration and The American Protectors will be committed to enforcing proper Unique Powered regulation."
"So what do you say, Gravitate—will you be the first to demonstrate the amazing Unique dampening innovations we have provided in the service of the American public?"