Chapter 350: Spark
13th June 2013, Avengers Tower
(Tony Stark POV)
The entire room stayed silent for a few minutes, processing what Bruce had revealed. The Accords were really making things tense. Because the man had a point. Wakanda was a last resort if mankind was being attacked or the world was in danger, and even then, they'd lose Rhodey and with Clint gone, they didn't need to lose more people in case something happened. To be perfectly honest, Tony hadn't really thought about how Bruce was feeling about all of this, especially with Ross spearheading the whole thing, a man that hunted him to the ends of the world and back.
Suddenly, the alarms went off, and JARVIS announced that there was a massive energy surge in the area. Tony rushed to the control room and yelled out, "What's going on Jarvis?"
"It appears that Emil Blonsky, also known as the Abomination, is on a rampage in the middle of Manhattan."
Tony looked at his teammates and he definitely didn't like resolute look one Steve Roger's face. This wouldn't bode well for anyone.
"We need to help," Steve spoke up with a hint of steel in his voice.
Well, what else did Tony expect Cap to do? The man was utterly inflexible when it came to things he perceived as his duty. He was impulsive and righteous, a very dangerous combination for anyone to have, let alone a super soldier. It was obvious to Tony that the man still hadn't acclimated to the twenty-first century. He still behaved like all those war propaganda soldiers that were fed to the masses to enlist.
"You can't be serious, Steve. Can't you see what's happening? Did you ignore the plan we made up together?" the billionaire bellowed.
Tony didn't need to be a genius to see what was happening. As far as he knew, the Abomination was under SHIELD's jurisdiction and kept in a special containment cell, while under sedation, until the organization could disable his transformation, or replicate it, he wasn't actually sure. After the organization's dissolution, he was sent to the US army and put in the RAFT containment cell they were working on. Tony knew it because he tracked every single asset from SHIELD and Hydra, in case they would try to return, which put him easily in Ross' reach.
This was Ross' move. Send a monster and arrest them for taking it down. Make it so that the fight is public, since it's still in the middle of the day, and make it close to the tower to add to the effect. Yeah, Tony was pretty certain that this was a trap to arrest them for breaking the Accords and force them to sign it.
"People are getting hurt out there, Tony," Steve replied.
The armored hero let out a snort of derision, "Yeah, and what else it new. New York is full of armored and powerful villains that attack people, but we never fight any of them. We leave them to the minor vigilantes to handle, like Spider-Man and Daredevil. It's always been like this, and according to the Accords, the government should have things in hand. When I said we don't involve ourselves, I was serious."
"This isn't the time to argue over politics, Tony, people are dying on our watch. I refuse to do nothing while suffering occurs around me. If I see something wrong, then it is my responsibility to stop it since I have the power to do so." The war hero returned.
This comment felt like a knife to the heart for the billionaire. Didn't Peter say the exact same thing when Tony had asked him why he went out as Spider-Man. 'With great power comes great responsibility.' In a way, Tony was spitting on his pseudo-son's code just to avoid signing the Accords.
"Look, I get where you're coming from," Tony protested, "but have you at least thought that this attack was too convenient? Last I heard, Blonsky was imprisoned by the US army and under sedation. And now, he's attacking in the middle of the day, for no discernable reason, and so close to us? You can't say that this doesn't sound fishy."
Banner interjected, "Yeah, that sounds like something Ross would do."
The Black Widow's face was impassive, "Stark's right. This is a trap, and not a clever one at that. We need to be cautious in how we handle things."
Steve seemed to frown at the protest, "Look, we don't have time to be careful and plan things. The fact is that people are getting hurt and the more we wait, the worse things will get. How can we call ourselves humanity's champions if we're unwilling to fight for their lives."
"For fuck's sake, Steve, it's an obvious trap. They're looking for a way to arrest us just for not signing the damn Accords. We do this, best case, we're fugitives, worst case, we end up in prison." Tony yelled,
"Then we'll all be together too." Steve calmly answered.
"No, we won't because I'm not doing anything." Tony protested.
Rhodey shook his head, "I'm out too. I can't really do anything since I'm in the US army. I can't fight with the suit without their permission, and I have none."
The billionaire sighed in relief; at least his oldest friend would be out of harm's way. Romanoff seemed to agree with him. She was usually very pragmatic; probably because of all the people that she killed in her life. The Red Room had taught her that humanity had its ugly part too, and that trusting a political system to be fair was a recipe for disaster.
Banner though got up, "Blonsky is a monster of my creation. This abomination of a man was born of my blood and my mistakes. I was too trusting in my desperation to cure my condition and these people are paying for it. This is probably a trap, but I'd rather take the risk and sign the Accords when they arrest me, than to sit and watch people die to my own mistakes. And what's the worst they could do, kill me? Been there, tried that, and it didn't work. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm with you on this, Captain."
"Me too," Wilson chimed in like the fan boy everyone knew he was.
The sad thing was that Steve rarely cared when Rhino ran around and killed people with his super suit, or when many mutants with delusions of power tried to rob banks, thinking themselves to be invincible. Sure, these attacks were rarely as chaotic as the Abomination's, nor did they happen in the middle of the day. But Steve still didn't care about them beyond frowning slightly. He wanted to get into the fight because he was told he wasn't allowed to do so. The team didn't even go on missions for the Accords to be an issue. It was why Tony was so comfortable with their inaction, since they didn't even do much in the first place. In the end, they were a first response unit in case Earth was attacked, nothing more, and they knew it. That's the sad thing. If Cap wasn't told he could go out and save people, he wouldn't have been this rash.
On the other hand, Natasha shook her head, "I'm with Tony on this, we need to be smart when picking our fights. And it's not like I would add anything when fighting someone like Emil Blonsky."
The World War Two hero gave them a disappointed look, "Sometimes, we have to choose between what is right and what is easy. It's easy to just stay and do nothing, but I'm willing to risk it for the sake of just saving lives."
Tony wanted to curse at the man's self-righteousness, "No, Steve, this is the difference between doing something stupid like getting into a fight in the middle of the day, with the media being around, and doing the smart thing by weathering the storm, and living with the guilt, for the sake of a better world."
"I'm sorry you see it that way," Cap said, ignoring what the billionaire just said.
Honestly, Tony could feel that the man had made up his mind and there was very little he could do to change it. That man was as stubborn as a mule. But there was something that Steve craved for, someone that could change his mind, "Bucky!"
Steve tilted his head in confusion and Tony continued, "Bucky is alive. He survived his fall and was brainwashed by Hydra. I will tell you where he is, in exchange of you not rushing into this obvious trap without even sparing a single thought to what might happen to you."
Steve's expression turned dark, "You're lying."
"Am I?" Tony replied with a smirk. He tapped a few commands on his phone and pictures of the unmasked Winter Soldier appeared. "He was saved by Zola, brainwashed by him, and given an experimental copy of your serum. They froze him whenever he wasn't useful and only woke him up for their missions. He killed countless people all over the world at Hydra's command."
Natasha was pale when she looked at the images and mumbled, "The Winter Soldier."
Tony nodded, "That's the name they gave him. He's known in the underworld as one of the most feared assassins that has ever existed. He's a ghost story, a whisper in the wind, in more ways than one."
Steve gave Tony a hard glare, "Where is he now?"
"I will tell you exactly what happened to him if you promise not to fight the Abomination," Tony simply replied.
The super soldier's eyes hardened, "You knew that he was alive, and you didn't say anything about him."
The war hero's tone was accusing, and Tony could understand why he would be angry, but it was better to be angry and free, than happy and in prison, "BECAUSE HE KILLED MY PARENTS"
At his teammates' confused look, Tony elaborated, "My father was a founder of SHIELD, their main backer, to be honest. He tried to replicate Cap's serum and found a substitute. Unfortunately, it had a side effect of making the subjects extremely violent. He was on his way to the pentagon with the prototypes, when he was attacked by your old friend. He killed both of my parents. My mother wasn't even involved in the SHIELD crap, but she was just there. He killed them, stole the serum and probably gave it to the Hydra higher ups. Sure cap, Barnes might be your friend, but I will not apologize for not telling you about the unstable brainwashed man that murdered my family."
Steve seemed taken aback by Tony's story, and the billionaire had a spark of hope that his gambit might work, "What happened to the soldiers?"
Of course, the man wouldn't care about his parents. Why did Tony even hope?
"All dead. Hydra froze them when they were too violent, but they were hunted down and executed in their sleep when Hydra fell," replied Tony with a brisk tone.
Steve deflated and looked disappointed in Tony, "I can't believe that you're using my friend just to get me to not save people. It's a low blow."
"I'm doing it for you. I'm making sure that you stay a free man, that the entire Enhanced community would also live as free men. Is that so much to ask of you?"
"I'm sorry, Tony, but I just can't sit still and do nothing. I would like to think that Bucky would understand that I would choose saving lives and waiting a little longer to see him again. He would know that my priority is always the people I protect. And that he would do the same if he was in my place," the man responded.
The 'unlike you' was unsaid, but he didn't need to do it. Everyone understood the implication that Tony was unworthy in Steve's eyes.
Well, he's done trying. If the man wants to get himself arrested for his own self-righteousness, then he was welcome to do so without his input.
Tony just sighed and deflated, "You're set on this, aren't you?"
"Yes. I'm sorry that it's coming to this, Tony. I really am."
"No, you're not. But you do this and get arrested, and I'll be washing my hands of you. I tried to reason with you and you're the ones that are too stubborn to listen," Tony replied.
The Cap nodded and turned towards the elevator. He was followed by Sam – the Falcon – Wilson and Bruce – the Hulk – Banner. They were going to fight the Abomination and inevitably fall to Ross' plan.
Yeah, things were so going to shit.
As usual, I generally post four chapters a week, on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. (The month is over, so I'm going back to the usual schedule)
If you want to support me, check out my Patreon. I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.
Chapter 350: Spark
13th June 2013, Avengers Tower
(Tony Stark POV)
The entire room stayed silent for a few minutes, processing what Bruce had revealed. The Accords were really making things tense. Because the man had a point. Wakanda was a last resort if mankind was being attacked or the world was in danger, and even then, they'd lose Rhodey and with Clint gone, they didn't need to lose more people in case something happened. To be perfectly honest, Tony hadn't really thought about how Bruce was feeling about all of this, especially with Ross spearheading the whole thing, a man that hunted him to the ends of the world and back.
Suddenly, the alarms went off, and JARVIS announced that there was a massive energy surge in the area. Tony rushed to the control room and yelled out, "What's going on Jarvis?"
"It appears that Emil Blonsky, also known as the Abomination, is on a rampage in the middle of Manhattan."
Tony looked at his teammates and he definitely didn't like resolute look one Steve Roger's face. This wouldn't bode well for anyone.
"We need to help," Steve spoke up with a hint of steel in his voice.
Well, what else did Tony expect Cap to do? The man was utterly inflexible when it came to things he perceived as his duty. He was impulsive and righteous, a very dangerous combination for anyone to have, let alone a super soldier. It was obvious to Tony that the man still hadn't acclimated to the twenty-first century. He still behaved like all those war propaganda soldiers that were fed to the masses to enlist.
"You can't be serious, Steve. Can't you see what's happening? Did you ignore the plan we made up together?" the billionaire bellowed.
Tony didn't need to be a genius to see what was happening. As far as he knew, the Abomination was under SHIELD's jurisdiction and kept in a special containment cell, while under sedation, until the organization could disable his transformation, or replicate it, he wasn't actually sure. After the organization's dissolution, he was sent to the US army and put in the RAFT containment cell they were working on. Tony knew it because he tracked every single asset from SHIELD and Hydra, in case they would try to return, which put him easily in Ross' reach.
This was Ross' move. Send a monster and arrest them for taking it down. Make it so that the fight is public, since it's still in the middle of the day, and make it close to the tower to add to the effect. Yeah, Tony was pretty certain that this was a trap to arrest them for breaking the Accords and force them to sign it.
"People are getting hurt out there, Tony," Steve replied.
The armored hero let out a snort of derision, "Yeah, and what else it new. New York is full of armored and powerful villains that attack people, but we never fight any of them. We leave them to the minor vigilantes to handle, like Spider-Man and Daredevil. It's always been like this, and according to the Accords, the government should have things in hand. When I said we don't involve ourselves, I was serious."
"This isn't the time to argue over politics, Tony, people are dying on our watch. I refuse to do nothing while suffering occurs around me. If I see something wrong, then it is my responsibility to stop it since I have the power to do so." The war hero returned.
This comment felt like a knife to the heart for the billionaire. Didn't Peter say the exact same thing when Tony had asked him why he went out as Spider-Man. 'With great power comes great responsibility.' In a way, Tony was spitting on his pseudo-son's code just to avoid signing the Accords.
"Look, I get where you're coming from," Tony protested, "but have you at least thought that this attack was too convenient? Last I heard, Blonsky was imprisoned by the US army and under sedation. And now, he's attacking in the middle of the day, for no discernable reason, and so close to us? You can't say that this doesn't sound fishy."
Banner interjected, "Yeah, that sounds like something Ross would do."
The Black Widow's face was impassive, "Stark's right. This is a trap, and not a clever one at that. We need to be cautious in how we handle things."
Steve seemed to frown at the protest, "Look, we don't have time to be careful and plan things. The fact is that people are getting hurt and the more we wait, the worse things will get. How can we call ourselves humanity's champions if we're unwilling to fight for their lives."
"For fuck's sake, Steve, it's an obvious trap. They're looking for a way to arrest us just for not signing the damn Accords. We do this, best case, we're fugitives, worst case, we end up in prison." Tony yelled,
"Then we'll all be together too." Steve calmly answered.
"No, we won't because I'm not doing anything." Tony protested.
Rhodey shook his head, "I'm out too. I can't really do anything since I'm in the US army. I can't fight with the suit without their permission, and I have none."
The billionaire sighed in relief; at least his oldest friend would be out of harm's way. Romanoff seemed to agree with him. She was usually very pragmatic; probably because of all the people that she killed in her life. The Red Room had taught her that humanity had its ugly part too, and that trusting a political system to be fair was a recipe for disaster.
Banner though got up, "Blonsky is a monster of my creation. This abomination of a man was born of my blood and my mistakes. I was too trusting in my desperation to cure my condition and these people are paying for it. This is probably a trap, but I'd rather take the risk and sign the Accords when they arrest me, than to sit and watch people die to my own mistakes. And what's the worst they could do, kill me? Been there, tried that, and it didn't work. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm with you on this, Captain."
"Me too," Wilson chimed in like the fan boy everyone knew he was.
The sad thing was that Steve rarely cared when Rhino ran around and killed people with his super suit, or when many mutants with delusions of power tried to rob banks, thinking themselves to be invincible. Sure, these attacks were rarely as chaotic as the Abomination's, nor did they happen in the middle of the day. But Steve still didn't care about them beyond frowning slightly. He wanted to get into the fight because he was told he wasn't allowed to do so. The team didn't even go on missions for the Accords to be an issue. It was why Tony was so comfortable with their inaction, since they didn't even do much in the first place. In the end, they were a first response unit in case Earth was attacked, nothing more, and they knew it. That's the sad thing. If Cap wasn't told he could go out and save people, he wouldn't have been this rash.
On the other hand, Natasha shook her head, "I'm with Tony on this, we need to be smart when picking our fights. And it's not like I would add anything when fighting someone like Emil Blonsky."
The World War Two hero gave them a disappointed look, "Sometimes, we have to choose between what is right and what is easy. It's easy to just stay and do nothing, but I'm willing to risk it for the sake of just saving lives."
Tony wanted to curse at the man's self-righteousness, "No, Steve, this is the difference between doing something stupid like getting into a fight in the middle of the day, with the media being around, and doing the smart thing by weathering the storm, and living with the guilt, for the sake of a better world."
"I'm sorry you see it that way," Cap said, ignoring what the billionaire just said.
Honestly, Tony could feel that the man had made up his mind and there was very little he could do to change it. That man was as stubborn as a mule. But there was something that Steve craved for, someone that could change his mind, "Bucky!"
Steve tilted his head in confusion and Tony continued, "Bucky is alive. He survived his fall and was brainwashed by Hydra. I will tell you where he is, in exchange of you not rushing into this obvious trap without even sparing a single thought to what might happen to you."
Steve's expression turned dark, "You're lying."
"Am I?" Tony replied with a smirk. He tapped a few commands on his phone and pictures of the unmasked Winter Soldier appeared. "He was saved by Zola, brainwashed by him, and given an experimental copy of your serum. They froze him whenever he wasn't useful and only woke him up for their missions. He killed countless people all over the world at Hydra's command."
Natasha was pale when she looked at the images and mumbled, "The Winter Soldier."
Tony nodded, "That's the name they gave him. He's known in the underworld as one of the most feared assassins that has ever existed. He's a ghost story, a whisper in the wind, in more ways than one."
Steve gave Tony a hard glare, "Where is he now?"
"I will tell you exactly what happened to him if you promise not to fight the Abomination," Tony simply replied.
The super soldier's eyes hardened, "You knew that he was alive, and you didn't say anything about him."
The war hero's tone was accusing, and Tony could understand why he would be angry, but it was better to be angry and free, than happy and in prison, "BECAUSE HE KILLED MY PARENTS"
At his teammates' confused look, Tony elaborated, "My father was a founder of SHIELD, their main backer, to be honest. He tried to replicate Cap's serum and found a substitute. Unfortunately, it had a side effect of making the subjects extremely violent. He was on his way to the pentagon with the prototypes, when he was attacked by your old friend. He killed both of my parents. My mother wasn't even involved in the SHIELD crap, but she was just there. He killed them, stole the serum and probably gave it to the Hydra higher ups. Sure cap, Barnes might be your friend, but I will not apologize for not telling you about the unstable brainwashed man that murdered my family."
Steve seemed taken aback by Tony's story, and the billionaire had a spark of hope that his gambit might work, "What happened to the soldiers?"
Of course, the man wouldn't care about his parents. Why did Tony even hope?
"All dead. Hydra froze them when they were too violent, but they were hunted down and executed in their sleep when Hydra fell," replied Tony with a brisk tone.
Steve deflated and looked disappointed in Tony, "I can't believe that you're using my friend just to get me to not save people. It's a low blow."
"I'm doing it for you. I'm making sure that you stay a free man, that the entire Enhanced community would also live as free men. Is that so much to ask of you?"
"I'm sorry, Tony, but I just can't sit still and do nothing. I would like to think that Bucky would understand that I would choose saving lives and waiting a little longer to see him again. He would know that my priority is always the people I protect. And that he would do the same if he was in my place," the man responded.
The 'unlike you' was unsaid, but he didn't need to do it. Everyone understood the implication that Tony was unworthy in Steve's eyes.
Well, he's done trying. If the man wants to get himself arrested for his own self-righteousness, then he was welcome to do so without his input.
Tony just sighed and deflated, "You're set on this, aren't you?"
"Yes. I'm sorry that it's coming to this, Tony. I really am."
"No, you're not. But you do this and get arrested, and I'll be washing my hands of you. I tried to reason with you and you're the ones that are too stubborn to listen," Tony replied.
The Cap nodded and turned towards the elevator. He was followed by Sam – the Falcon – Wilson and Bruce – the Hulk – Banner. They were going to fight the Abomination and inevitably fall to Ross' plan.
Yeah, things were so going to shit.
As usual, I generally post four chapters a week, on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. (The month is over, so I'm going back to the usual schedule)
If you want to support me, check out my Patreon. I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.
