Keller's plan was intricate, and it would have to be carried out with pinpoint accuracy. Early on the day of the press conference, he had booked a room in the Holiday Inn that stood directly overlooking the podium. Keller had had to spend a few extra weeks building a telescopic sight onto the gamma gun so that he could position the beam with total accuracy, and also some time trying to find which hotel room was best placed to shoot the siphoning beam from. Now though, everything was in readiness.
There was risk involved in this venture, of course. The beam had to be invisible, and at a low frequency-- anything higher and the Avengers highly sensitive recording devices would pick up the electromagnetic emanations of the device. Subjecting the Hulk to a full blast on the beam's highest frequency would be a bad move-- both the Hulk and the Avengers would respond swiftly and mercilessly to such a brazen attack long before the beam had collected enough gamma energy. The only option was to have the device drain Dr Banner's power slowly over the course of the press conference. With any luck the big green brute would just think he was feeling unwell, and subcomb to the effects of the siphoning device in good time. There was always a danger that the Hulk could move away before the beam had finished it's work, however-- but it was a gamble Keller just had to take. There would be no other opportunity to get close to the Hulk, and this was his best hope. Wiping his sweating palms on his hands, he peered down the gunsights and watched the gathering crowds, waiting for the arrival of his quarry.
After about fifteen minutes delay (which made Keller nervous-- had he been detected and the copnverence called off? Would he shortly be interrupted by the sound of Captain America pummelling his hotel room door open?)-- they came. Warbird came first, floating down from an uncomfortably close distance to Keller, who froze as she drifted past. Her arms were outstretched and one muscular leg was bent forward at the knee, like a balet dancer performing Swan Lake. Her back was to Keller, so she couldn't have noticed the barrel of his Gamma-Siphoner, covered as it was by a dark cloth and aimed from well within the hotel room. She landed on the podium to great applause, and raised her arms in greeting to the fans. Next was Justice and Firestar-- the flame-haired woman streaking down from the sky like a falling meteor, a firey trail behind her. She came down at such speed that many of the crowd made an uneasy sound, but soon broke out into rapturous applause when Firestar came to a halt just above the podium and turned off her fire aura, landing as gracefully as a cat on the stage. Justice followed behind, encased in a glowing bubble of powerful psychic energy, his hair and cape floating dreamily in it's weightless embrace. He came to land beside his girlfriend Firestar, and raised a fist in salute to the crowd whilst placing the other arm around Firestar's slender waist. The Bombastic Beast was next, and as the furry blue mutant tumbled down from the roof of a coffee bar and leapt onto the stage, Keller frowned. Where was the Hulk? Had he pulled out at the last minute? Keller looked nervously behind him, expecting the door to come crashing down at any second. Keller returned his gaze to the stage and watched the next Avenger ariving. A ghostly outline of a cape wearing man suddenly appeared suspended over the heads of the other Avengers. Complex circuitry became visible, then organic looking but entirely synthetic muscle tissue. A yellow, green and red epidermis solidified to reveal the unmistakable form of the Vision. Keller cursed his luck-- the Vision might be able to detect his beam, even at this low frequency. This didn't bode well. His despair at this turn of events melted away quickly as he felt a slight tremor pass through the room. Looking down onto an empty patch of the square behind the crowd, Keller grinned as he saw the Hulk dressed in nothing but a pair of knee-length purple trunks. Keller clasped his gamma-siphoning gun eagerly, waiting for the Hulk to make his way to the podium. Instead though, the Hulk knealt, and the crowd parted before him. Frowning at the oddity of this, the sound of a motorbike filled the air, and then suddenly a shape lifted off from the Hulk's powerful back. It was Captain America on a motorbike! The jump took him high into the air, and with an astonishing speed and nimbleness that belied his imposing bulk, the Hulk sped forward to the stage and waited as Cap's bike descended. Effortlessly, the green goliath caught both the bike and it's rider, and Captain America somersaulted from his ride and onto the podium. The crowd went wild, and even Keller had to shake his head in astonishment at this.
Captain America waved for silence, and began to speak.
"Friends," he began, the sound of his voice reducing all to an awed hush, "We're here today to celebrate not just a movie, but to honour those people without whom none of us would be standing here today--you."
Thunderous applause. The Hulk had taken his place beside Captain America. It was time.
Keller finished aiming the weapon from the back of of his hotel room and out the open window. He flicked off the safety catch, and with a trembling finger, fired the device. An invisible stream of gamma-absorbing particles streaked down towards the stage and hit the Hulk square in his back. He peered back through the infra-red telescopic sights, which showed the beam as an etherial glowing strand which arced downward, and grinned. Success! The readings from his device were telling him that Dr Banner's gamma energy was slowly but surely being siphoned, but Banner himself did not appear to notice what was happening to him at all. The Vision too remained impassive as Captain America continued his speech. Rubbing his hands together with glee, Doctor Benjamin Keller grabbed his suit jacket and made his way out of the hotel room. He would now make his way down to the crowds gathered outside, and once there meet his wife, Kate.
Kate Keller had idolised the Avengers since their initial battle with the Hulk and Loki, many years ago. Her workplace was close by, so she was able to attend the press launch for the Avengers movie during her lunch break. It was also affording her the opportunity to spend a little time with her husband Ben, who had been very absorbed in his work of late. He'd never really shared Kate's interest in the Avengers, but for some reason had insisted on making this press conference a date. She watched him approach now, looking happier than he had done in months. Kissing her on the cheek, Ben took his side at his wife's place.
"Well, look at you so happy all of a sudden!" Kate laughed.
"This is going to be a momentous occaision, Kate. I can feel it..."
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