Chapter Text
It had taken quite a while for me to get where I am at this moment. Of course I always had the support of my friends and family(or most of them at least). At this point in my life I was a sergeant of the NYPD right below Brett Mahoney. He was my very first friend in the NYPD. Through him I met many people or vigilantes.
In the time that I knew Brett I had met Daredevil, Spider-Man, The Hero of Harlem, the Iron Fist, Frank Castle, and many other vigilantes and superheroes. All of them knew I had abilities. I was considered a mutant, of course I was actually a mutate from having experiments done on me as a child. None of the NYPD except Brett knew I was a mutant, I managed to keep my abilities under control and hidden in fear of being locked up.
Back to this moment: The Power Dampening Collars. The representative sent by Trask Industries to explain the use of the collars had just finished explaining how the collars worked and asked if anyone had questions. I refused to make eye contact with the rep or any of the other officers. After a few moments of silence Brett asked, “They’ve been tested? And they for sure don’t hurt people?”
The rep smiled with faux confidence and promised they were 100% safe. I decided to risk it and ask the question that had been on my mind the minute the rep started talking. “What would happen if the collar was used on someone who was in the process of healing? That would affect their healing factor? So, would the use of the collar cause even more issues? And what if that injury would have killed someone who wasn’t enhanced?”
The rep dropped their smile as they replied, “The collar would stop their healing factor. Yes, the collar is very unlikely to cause any more problems with their health.”
I decided to not ask anymore questions until the representative left the station getting everyone's attention. I stepped onto my desk and whistled to get everyone’s attention. “We shouldn’t use these collars. As one of the people in this station that works with the very people these collars would be used on, I know what would happen if we used them.”
One of the newer officers asked what would happen after a few seconds of silence. “If used during the healing process of an injury that would have killed the mutant then they would die,” pausing to take a breath I continued on, “The collars stop all enhancements, I heard from Deadpool what happened to him after his stint in the IceBox with these collars. He has stage four cancer; the only thing preventing him from dying is the mutation he has.
“How would you feel if you had to wear a collar that stopped the only thing preventing you from dying? Imagine if you had to put one of these on someone you know,” letting them think for a moment I continued on, “For those of you that know Spider-Man's identity would you feel comfortable using one of these on him? I know I wouldn’t.”
Still standing on my desk I made eye contact with each officer in the station. Brett decided to speak up, “Cap had lots of health issues before the serum, if we had to put a collar on him for any reason we wouldn’t have a Captain America. Plus we all know the likelihood that he gets a collar with the amount of times he’s voiced his distrust of the police.”
Many officers thought for a few moments about everything they had just heard. Most officers looked spooked, wide eyed looks on most of their faces. Some looked at Brett and I with faces of indifference. I knew they would need more convincing so in a moment of ignorance I admitted to the one thing I was most afraid of, “I am a mutant, I have control over my powers but not everyone does. I help all around New York as needed. I have met some of you as my Alias, The Whispering Shadow.”
I see when some of the unconvinced recognize the hero name. “For those of you who are still not convinced I have telepathy and invisibility, my job within the defenders or when helping vigilantes is to sneak in and confuse the attackers. Would anyone like a demonstration?”
The captain who looks like he doesn’t believe me about my powers but was against the collars gives me the go ahead to show my abilities.
I jump off the desk and turn invisible, slowly I walk around until I find someone who doesn’t seem to care about what's going on around him. I decide to turn off my ability and tap him on the shoulder, freaking him out.
“That is one of my abilities. Do I need to show my other abilities or do you believe me?”
Looking around me as I walk back to my desk I see them realize what I am. “I am still healing some injuries from my last fight helping The Devil but if you want to put one of the collars on me to see how they affect us I am willing to let you.” I say as I sit at my desk and take a drink
“Anyone want to test it? This is your one chance. As long as you can take it off in the case of something happening I will allow it.”
One of the officers steps up and says, “I don’t really want to use this on anyone but if you want to see the effects I’ll put it on you.”
“Go right ahead and put it on then.”
“If you don’t mind me asking what injuries do you have? I don’t mean to pry I just wanted to know incase anything happens to you”
As she starts to pick the collar up I answer, “Some fractured ribs and quite a few slices from a knife, nothing too deep.”
“Ready?” She asks as she gets ready to turn it on.
“As I’ll ever be.”
Moments after she turns it on I start to seize. All of the officers start to panic while the officer who put the collar on rushes to turn it off and unlock it. A few minutes later I came back around to see everyone looking worried.
“So,” taking a breath, “I’m assuming that went as well as expected?”
The officer who put the collar on said, “Yeah pretty much, although I was expecting less seizing and more screaming.”
“Eh, shit happens.” I say starting to stand up.
Looking around I realize everyone looks terrified of the collars. The chief puts the collar back in the box and starts to put them in the back room, locking the door when done. “We will not be using them and I will gladly try spreading the word to other stations.” He says when everyone looks at him.
---------------------Time Skip brought to you by my inability to think of more-------------------------------
Leaving the station later that week I go to patrol as Whisper. Around midnight I meet up with Daredevil on one of the roofs. Moments after he gets there he says, “I heard what you did at the station the other day.”
“I figured it was time to tell them, especially because some still wanted to use the collars.”
“It’s a good thing that we have someone like you around to help out. Did you hear about the girl that May Parker had? She got arrested for being drunk and disorderly. Screamed for two hours in the ICU until they took the collar off.”
Sucking in a breath I say, “We need to do something about this. Do you think Peter could find a way to disable the collar if I gave him one? Is that even possible?”
“You can try it if you want. I won’t be much help but if he figures it out he’s going to share it with the world.”
“Good then at least the world will know that they can’t keep putting them on people like us if we can get them off.”
Pulling out my phone, I call Peter, “Hey, if I gave you one of the dampening collars do you think you could find a way to disable them? Like finding a weak spot and taking it apart? Then post how to do it? That way at least those in collars can get them off themselves?”
Peter starts talking animatedly about how that yes, if I were to get him a collar he could probably figure out how to render it inoperable. Cutting in during his rant, “Kid, I will meet you tomorrow and give you one let me know if you need any help. I’ll also give you the code needed to turn it off in case. See you then.”
“Goodbye Matt, I’m ending my patrol now. Let me know if you need any help. Medical or vigilante.”
“Later Alex”