A man walked onto the stage, clearly uncomfortable but brave.
"My name is John Milligan. You say that you're going to listen to our concerns, you still abandoned us in our time of need and have caused a lot of damage to our city and then left us to pick up the pieces of your destruction. We understand you're trying to help, but at this point we think we may be better off with the villains than you all."
Richard walked onto the stage and whispered in Dona's ear.
"I can take it from here if you want to get off stage." Richard walked forward without his helmet and spoke plainly.
"The man is right, we have ignored you all in our attempts to keep you safe. We deeply regret that and we will not let it happen again. If you will all disperse and go home or even pitch in, we will make up for the problems we have caused. I will personally pay to have medicines, water, and other necessities and specialists brought in while I myself with the help of the suit will be cleaning up and repairing the water treatment facility. Right now our plant specialist, Heartbreaker, is accelerating the growth of food and medicinal herbs to help you all. We deeply regret the damage we have all caused and will immediately set about working to correct this error."
The people were visibly calming, but there was still discontent and mistrust obviously still left. Milligan spoke up once again.
"What will stop you from doing this again? Sure, now that we are breaking down your door you respond to our needs, but what will keep you from abandoning us the next time?"
Richard replied almost immediately.
"I cannot promise that we will not be called away in a time of crisis, that would be lying to both you and ourselves. What I can promise you is that the only reason we will abandon this city is because of something truly important." Richard paused as he contemplated telling them of the suit plans being stolen before deciding against it. He recovered with an honest statement that could explain away his hesitation in speaking.
"I did not want to be a part of this group originally. Then I saw how much every single one of these people cares about not just fighting crime, but helping all people anywhere on the planet. They are dedicated to each and every one of you, whether you have personally seen it or not. I realized I could do far more as a member of the Society than I ever could as a businessman. I can say that I am proud to be a member of the Society." He spoke with honesty and conviction. He knew it probably wouldn't be entirely enough until they physically proved they were serious about cleaning up the mess they had made and protecting the citizens, but it should have helped in calming them down.
