The Dark Assassin | Thor: The Dark World [2]

Chapter 19

"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor...which is one more than you have," 

"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?" 

"One-hundred-seventeen countries want to sign this. One-hundred-seventeen, Sam, and you're just like, 'No, that's cool. We got it.'"

 "How long are you gonna play both sides?"

Arguments swirled around the room as people debilitated over the accords. 

"I have an equation," my eyes flicked over to the robot, who was perched in a chair with his hand near his mouth.

"Oh, this will clear it up," someone sassed.

"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. During the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate,"

"Are you saying it's our fault?" the person with the accords asked.

 "I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict...breeds catastrophe. Oversight...oversight is an idea that cannot be dismissed overhand,"

"None of this matters if we don't know who's holding the leash," I said, everyone whipping around to face me.

"Think about it. Yes, there is a causality. The further you advance, the more powerful beings will take notice of Midgard and want to harness that progress and use it to their advantage. Judging by your past actions, you would attempt to stop them and lives would be lost. However, if you agreed to this, you wouldn't get a choice. Thanos could come, Loki could come back, the Kree could invade. If the person holding the leash deemed them too weak to send anyone after them, they could wreak havoc on the world,"

"Midgard? You're Asgardian?" my eyes narrowed.

"The term's Aesir. And it doesn't matter," I said.

"Why are you here?" Redhead asked.

"I am an enhanced individual. The 'Unidentified Asgardian' from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files?" she said back in her chair, regarding me before looking at the man slumped in a chair.

"Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal,"

"It's because he's already made up his mind," someone interjected. 

 "Boy, you know me so well. Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort," he got up, crossing over to the kitchen and grabbing a mug.

"Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" I noticed the robot sink back in his chair slightly.

The man, Tony, placed a device in a basket and it projected the face of a young boy, him acting like he didn't notice at first.

"Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. Oh! Lookee here. Joanne Thatcher. Another great kid. Heading to Harvard to be a doctor, 4.2 GPA, had countless hours of volunteering under her belt. But first, they decided to put a few miles on their souls before parking themselves at desks. See the world, maybe be of service. They didn't wanna go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. They didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. They decided to spend their summers building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where. Sokovia. They wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on them while we were kicking ass,"

The room fell silent when the word 'Sokovia' was uttered. As Tony set the mug down, the sound of the mug hitting the counter was loud and harsh, cutting through the air like a knife.

 "There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundaryless, we're no better than the bad guys,"

"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up," the man from before interjected.

"Who said we're giving up?" Tony countered.

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame,"

 "Sorry, Steve. That--That is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not S.H.I.E.L.D, it's not HYDRA," someone pointed out.

"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change," 

"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 said. 

 "Tony, you chose to do that. She's right. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. What if the panels sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there's somewhere we need to go and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own,"

"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," the brunette asked.

"We would protect you," the android assured her.

 "Maybe Tony's right. If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off..." the redhead mused.

"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" a man--Sam, I think--asked.

"I'm just...reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back,"

 "Focus up. I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you...or did you agree with me?"

"I want to take it back now,"

"No, you can't retract it now,"

 "I have to go," another man--Steve--said, standing up and leaving.

"What about you? What do you think about all this?" Tony asked, pointing at me.

"I've voiced my opinion, but I'm not signing, if that's what you're asking. I finally cut the leash around my neck, I'm not putting another one on. Oh, and if you trying digging into my past, you can go to Hel,"