They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious
- Uprising, Muse
I sat with Tony quietly as the Secretary of State started telling the Avengers why we're needed. Tony hasn't spoken a word to me since I arrived, which is weird even for him. Something must be going on in his mind and I don't know if it's good or bad.
Secretary Ross sighed as he started his story. "Five years ago...I had a heart attack..." Bored already, "...and dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass...I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me. Perspective. The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us...protected us, risked your lives..."
"Great, can we go now?" I asked. Tony slapped my arm for the interruption, I glared at him.
"You might want to listen to this," he whispered. I sighed before listening to Ross finish...whatever it is he's trying to say.
"But while a great many people see you as heroes...there are some...who would prefer the word vigilantes."
"What word would you use, Mr Secretary?" Natasha asked.
"How about dangerous?" Us? Dangerous? "What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals...who routinely ignore sovereign borders...and inflict their will wherever they choose...and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?" People who try to save the city. Ross clicked on the monitors to show us the map of the world. "New York." The video played and showed this weird whale-like creature. Hulk going berserk. Then the map changed to show a ship crashing into the city. "Washington, D.C." It changed again. This time it was place I know all too well. The video playing was of Brushogun releasing his ink while the Titans and I attacked. "Tokyo." Then a small clip of my gum ad was played.
"Raven, why is your face on an ad for gum?" Sam asked.
"You don't wanna know," I responded.
The clip changed again to Sokovia. It was when Ultron raised the city. Ross changed the clip again to this morning. Lagos. The bomb that went off. I glanced towards Wanda, who was looking more guilty by the minute. It's not her fault. I could feel more of her guilty as the video continued playing injured citizens. Some covered in dirt and rubble, others being rushed to the hospital.
"Okay. That's enough," Steve told Ross.
Secretary Ross nodded at his guard to stop the video. "For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power...and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate."Like they could do any better if they're dealing with those things. "But I think we have a solution." The guard handed him this big book. Ross placed it on the table and pushed it towards us. "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries...it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead...they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel...only when and if that panel deems it necessary."
In other words, we're not suppose to do anything. Let the world parish.
"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place," Steve pointed out. "I feel we've done that."
"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?"
I raised my eyebrow at him. "Do you?"
The Secretary locked his gaze at me. "If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes...you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground." He slowly walked over to me. "And speaking of ground. You are to return to your home in Azarath."
To that Tony snapped his gaze at Ross. "Excuse me? What?"
Ross played another video on the screen. This one was of my father, Trigon. Him throwing cars around Jump City as fire burns around him. People kept screaming as all of Jump City is destroyed.
"That's your Pops?" Rhodey asked shockingly. Trigon's eyes lit before sending another blast through the streets. "Remind me to not get on his bad side."
I ignored Rhodey and looked at Ross. "My father's trapped in his cage. He's not getting out ever again."
"You don't know that." He motioned towards the video. "He's gotten out before. You're his daughter, you were created by him. If he followed you to Jump City, he'll more likely follow you here. You are to return to Azarath immediately."
"Hold on, Raven has the right to live here like the rest of us," Steve defended me. "If she stopped her father before she can do it again. This time she has us with her."
"And you think that's a good thing?" Ross walked to the front of the room. "Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna...to ratify the Accords." Steve turned and looked at Tony. Tony hasn't said anything about the Accords once. "Talk it over."
"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha asked before they left.
"Then you retire."
》》》》
For the past hour and a half, we've been discussing the Accords. Tony didn't say anything. He was just laying on the couch as Rhodey and Sam bicker about why or why we shouldn't sign.
"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor...which is one more than you have," Rhodey argued.
"So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam asked.
"117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, No, that's cool. We got it."
"How long are you going to play both sides?"
"I have an equation," Vision piped up.
Sam crossed his arms. "Oh, this will clear it up."Vision got comfortable in his seat. "In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man...the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period...the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."
"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked as he held the Accords in his hands.
"I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict.And conflict...breeds catastrophe. Oversight...Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."
"Boom," Rhodey finished like if Vision just proved his point.
Natasha turned her attention towards Tony. "Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."
"It's because he's already made up his mind," Steve said.
"Boy, you know me so well," Tony commented sarcastically before getting up and heading to the kitchen. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort." He grabbed a cup before looking in the sink. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal?Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"
"Raven?" Steve called.
I slowly looked at him. I have been thinking about the Accords. Even though things like this isn't a big deal for me, but I'm brought into it. We might have ruined people's lives, but at least the murder rate hasn't increased. If we haven't interfered, then more people would have died. We were doing our jobs. Tony sighed before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a hologram picture of a boy.
His name was Charles Spencer, he wanted to do something good and decided to build houses for the poor...in Sokovia. He was killed over there, because of us. Maybe we're not doing what we think is necessary.
"There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check!" Tony decided. "Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less...we're no better than the bad guys."
"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up," Steve said.
"Who said we're giving up?"
"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame."
"I'm sorry, Steve. That is dangerously arrogant," Rhodey cut in. "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not HYDRA."
"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change."
That got Tony even more fired up. "That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands...I shut it down and stopped manufacturing."
"Tony, you chose to do that. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is somewhere we need to go and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."
"What if it's also the most dangerous?" I asked. Steve and Tony looked at me. "You guys know what I'm capable to do, you saw what my father can and will do. If Ross is right, then maybe it's best to sign this thing."
Steve furrowed his brows. "Rae, if you sign this, you'll have to move back to Azarath."
"Maybe that's a good thing. If Trigon does manage to escape his cage and follows me, it'll be best to do face him there."
Steve looked at Tony. "And you're going to let her sign it?"
"I maybe Raven's guardian, but she's old enough to make her own decisions." Steve gave Tony a I don't believe you look. "If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty."
"You're saying they'll come for me," Wanda said.
"We would protect you," Vision promised.
"Maybe Tony's right. If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer," Natasha said, surprising me a bit. "If we take it off..."
Sam cut her off. "Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Wish I was there to see it.
"I'm just reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."
Tony couldn't believe what just happened. "Focus up. I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you...or did you agree with me?"
"I want to take it back now."
"Too late," I mumbled the same time Tony said, "No, you can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented."
Tony nodded. "Okay. Case closed. I win."