Timeskip to March 2002
[Main POV]
The rest of 2001 was great.
I got the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Congressional Gold Medal, and a flurry of other medals. I also got a bunch of military medals for rescuing captured Americans after their disastrous initial invasion.
Of course, to receive the military medals, I had to be in the American military. So, I was made an honorary 5-star general.
I also received three Nobel Prizes: in Physics for nuclear fusion, in Literature for Harry Potter, and in Peace for waging war on terrorists. I'm pretty sure someone in the committee's a superfan, because I never engaged in any type of lobbying to win.
After that, there was the wedding. To maintain some semblance of privacy, Artemis and I had a December wedding at dusk in the Dodona Sanctuary. Only inviting our inner circle, it was a pleasant little affair.
After the rollercoaster that was 2001, things went back to normal.
Well, not quite normal. I was doing something different. Tomorrow was the first day we'd start preparing for the first MCU movie: Captain America: The First Avenger.
Unlike with animations, books, or games, there was a lot more coordination and planning required to make movies, so even though filming was over a year away, preparations had to be made. Especially since we were planning to release dozens of Marvel movies.
The biggest difference was that I planned for a series of movies featuring Black Widow and Hawkeye. While the original MCU eventually did make a Black Widow movie, it was a blatant virtue signaling cash grab with no effect on the wider MCU, released after the main character had died.
My movies would be mission impossible styled spy thrillers, with the first being about taking down the Red Room, loosely based off Mission Impossible 5 (the one where they take down the Syndicate).
The hard question was, do I prepare the MCU for post Endgame? If I do, the later MCU phases might feel bloated with too many characters. Not only that, but it's probable that the public would feel burnt out, so a break might be necessary.
As I contemplated these thoughts, someone knocked on my door.
"Come in."
It was Charlotte. "Sir, they're here."
"I'll be right out," I stood up from my desk, and marched out of my office and to one of the meeting rooms.
Inside were Olivia, President George W. Bush, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Myers.
"Gentlemen," I addressed the government officials, "what can I do you for – I mean do for you."
Unfazed by my dad joke, they went straight to business.
"General Apollo," General Myers said, "the United States military requires intelligence on several rogue states in the War on Terror."
I was confused, "What do you mean War on Terror, general? bin Laden's been captured. The war has been over for months."
"al Qaeda and the Taliban aren't the only terrorist organizations," Rumsfeld stated before laying down a map of the Middle East. Handing me some heavily redacted files regarding their future invasion plans, he continued, "America is committed to fighting every terrorist state in the world. You are either with us, or against us."
I looked through the files. Syria, Libya, Iraq, Somalia… There was a plan to invade every third world dictatorship not friendly with the United States.
"Some of these dictators, as despicable as they might be, are keeping the Islamic extremists in line," I argued. "Won't a military intervention just be destabilizing the countries and allow the extremists to take over?"
"Highly unlikely, considering we plan on installing democracies after removing the dictators, allowing the people to express their views without turning to extremism," Rumsfeld responded.
"And what if they don't want democracy?" I argued back.
The three of them looked at me like I was stupid.
"Iraq for example," I explained, "Saddam Hussein and bin Laden hated each other cause Hussein's keeping the Shia majority in line. We're talking about a country that widely supports Sharia law. If you overthrow Hussein, you might as well serve Iraq to Iran on a silver platter!"
"That man tried to kill my father!" Bush shouted referring to an allegation that Saddam Hussein was behind an assassination attempt on Bush Sr..
"Well to be fair Mr. President," I pointed out, "your father did try to kill him first."
After that, it's fair to say relations broke down.
Following their departure, Olivia turned to me. "Why didn't we just give them the intel? We could've gotten a blank check."
"We could've," I acknowledged as I watched the President's black motorcade drive away, "but it would ruin our public image. Simply put, those wars aren't justifiable. The one in Afghanistan was. And it's not like we need the money."
Just as Olivia was about to respond, probably agreeing with me, Charlotte burst into the room. "Lord Apollo, you've being subpoenaed by congress!"
.
[3rd POV]
"Drive, drive, drive!" Bush yelled at his driver as everyone rushed into the car.
He had just sent a text to his congressional allies in Washington. The text was simply two words: do it.
His father had advised him not to challenge Apollo, especially with the military or police. That had ended in disaster. So, Bush Jr. decided to do things differently.
At that moment, hundreds of subpoenas were sent to Apollo from every congressional committee. The plan was to bury him in legalese and congressional hearings.
The only part of the plan that he didn't think through was that he was still in Apollonia, enemy territory. So, he made his driver put the pedal to the metal and drive out of town.
Keeping his head low, he only let out a sigh of relief once his car had crossed the city limits.
.
Meanwhile, Apollo had not responded to Charlotte, and simply continued to watch the presidential motorcade.
"So that's how you want to play it George?" he whispered. "Should've listened to your dad. Well, if you shoot for the king, you best not miss."