[3rd POV]
Within a week, the most anticipated event in American politics began: the congressional hearings. All hearings were public since their purpose was to pressure Apollo into submission.
Many viewers were cautiously interested. Apollo still held an approval rating of 99%, so they were naturally defensive of him. But since nobody knew exactly what the hearings were about, the public couldn't make any specific criticisms of the subpoenas.
Not that they didn't try. Most people gawked at the idea that Congress was going after the most popular person in the world. If they needed someone to go after, they could always start with their own.
.
[Main POV]
My first hearing was with the Committee on Armed Services. To appear presentable, I wore the 5 star general uniform, with all my medals hanging out for everyone to see.
Taking a seat, I played games on my phone while I waited for everyone to arrive. Eventually, I caught Olivia's eye, who was giving me a disapproving look while sitting in the bleachers behind me. Beside her was Artemis, psychically telling me to put away the phone and to take this more seriously.
I shrugged and slipped my phone back in my pocket. I guess it was hard to take something so seriously when I already knew what was going to happen. My vision on 9/11 practically gave everything away.
The hearing finally started when the committee chairman gaveled in. He then went on to give a long speech about freedom, democracy, and rights. I didn't need to read his mind to know he was out to get me.
Then the ranking member, the highest-ranking senator of the opposition party, gave a statement. Surprising many of the spectators (not me), he agreed with the chairman and gave his own passive aggressive speech.
Then, it was time for my opening statement.
"Good morning, as many of you may know, I'm Apollo, genius, billionaire, marshal, philanthropist. I'm here because I was summoned here under threat of imprisonment to answer whatever questions you have. Afterwards, I'll be happy to help set up the printer in the elderly home you guys escaped from."
There was a flurry of chuckles behind me, and none from the geriatric individuals in their highchairs.
The first senator to question me introduced himself, but I tuned out his voice when he said his name. His middle name was 10 syllables, and his last name was 30 syllables with way too many consonants and not enough vowels. I simply decided to call him Ugly.
Ugly started talking, "Mr. Apollo –"
"Sorry to interrupt," I interrupted, "it's actually just Apollo, I don't have a last name."
"Mr. Apollo," Ugly rudely repeated while glaring, giving me a view of some of his breakfast in his teeth, "regarding the attacks on September 11th, we have video footage of the Apollonian Sunscraper blasting the rogue plane from the sky, preventing it from crashing. This, however, did not occur in New York. Can you explain your negligence on the matter and why you allowed thousands of innocent civilians to die?"
"Well senator, I'm a man of the law. And the New York City Council turned down my proposal to have a giant laser on the top of the tower."
"And you were authorized to have a giant laser on top of the Sunscraper in Apollonia?"
"Yes senator. The Texas state government allowed this. If you wish to know more about this matter, you'll simply have to ask them." The reason was because I donated half a million dollars to a charity the governor's niece ran.
Stumped, Senator Ugly gave up the rest of his time. Next, I was questioned by a female senator who wasn't as ugly as Senator Ugly.
Then she gave me a predatory look, that immediately changed my mind. She was now Senator Ugly. And the previous guy was Senator Handsome.
"Mr. Apollo," she said while staffers raised pictures behind her. The graphics quality was terrible, like worse than 144p but blown up to the size of a large TV screen.
"These images are from 12 hours before the American invasion of Afghanistan. All over Afghanistan, we have reports of planes seeing nothing but rubble. No life, it appears everyone is dead. With the only possible suspect being Apollo Enterprises, I ask you, do you have any remorse for the lives you took?"
"Senator, with all due respect, those images are too blurry for me to see anything."
"Just answer the question," Senator Ugly insisted.
"I've taken lives in both Berlin and Afghanistan, but I can't call upon the apocalypse senator, I'm not a god," I said with a chuckle. "If you're looking for a suspect, I suggest you look into the Taliban. They were quite brutal, even with their own people."
"Mr. Apollo, you killed people," the senator said ignoring everything I stated, "this is an indisputable fact! I think it's shameful that you would slaughter innocents and commit genocide."
As I was indicating to all the medals on my chest and was about to mention my Nobel Peace Prize, Senator Ugly realized what I was about to do and said, "I yield my time."
The next senator got the hint and immediately started to speak.
And the hearings went on and on.
"Where are the brave soldiers who disappeared in the Dodona Sanctuary?"
"Do you truly believe you deserve to have trillions of dollars?"
"Why has there never been an inspection of Apollo Enterprise's manufacturing centers?"
"What do you have to say about the link between teenage girls committing suicide on Instagram?"
"Is there a nuclear bomb in the New York Sunscraper?"
"What is Apollo Enterprise doing regarding false information on your platforms?"
"What is Apollo Enterprise doing regarding censorship on your platforms?"
"Remembering that lying to congress is a crime, did you really write books when you were 4 years old?"
"How much are you paying in taxes?"
"How many illegal immigrants do your companies employ?"
"How did you graduate high school despite not receiving the sufficient credits?"
"What reason is there for collecting so much data from social media users?"
"Is your wife a Soviet spy?"
"Which performance enhancing drugs did you take during the Olympics?"
"Given that you hold a monopoly over many important industries, will you surrender them to be nationalized?"
.
At long last, I was done for the day. Greeted by Artemis, who stayed with me till the very end, we exchanged a kiss before being picked up by Olivia and Dankus.
"Did you do it?" I asked once we were in the car and away from any eyes or ears.
"The second I heard the first question," Olivia stated. I nodded. If they wanted to play dirty, then so would I. It was clear the Triple A Deal was dead.
While many Americans watched the hearings, or clips of the hearings, they also watched videos I had premade in my defense.
These videos were short clips that were played instead of the normal advertisements and acted as my defense. After a watching a congressmen try their best to own me (metaphorically), the viewer would watch a clip where I would make my case.
"Fucking hell," I growled. My approval rating had dropped to 72% (27% decrease). At least it was better than the 6% that every politician involved had dropped to.
"Well, you can't win 'em all," Olivia reminded.
I shrugged. On a positive note, the hearings seemed to help in consolidating my fervent supporters. Now 61% of respondents answered that I should be made King of America (16% increase).