The Accords
One month later
I stood in the Arrow cave as Cisco liked to call it, arms crossed, deep in thought, staring at the suits. Or one suit in particular, the black Canary one. I couldn't believe she was gone... Darhk was free, we were broken. I could have changed this... If I had revealed my powers.. I could have saved her..Yet I didn't. I chose to keep them hidden.. To protect Star City, and that was a guilt I would have to live with... but to live with it.. I would have to accept it, and I wasn't there yet.
My phone rang, and I picked it up. Tony Stark's voice said "David, old buddy, old pal. Listen. Avenger Meeting, at the Facility. Really important, I need you there. Aqua is coming too. Wear your Sunday best, which I gather for a greek demigod is a nice tshirt and pants. That totally works, see you soon!" He hung up without me saying a word. One final glance at Black Canary's suit before turning around to put on my Iron suit and see what all this fuss was about..
It was a couple hour flight, but I made it in time for this meeting. I landed on the Iron Suit landing pad, stepping out of my suit as it was swallowed up for storage and chraging. I then made my way up to the conference room, where I found Steve, Wanda, Vision, Rhodes, Tony, Percy, Jason, Sam and Natasha, as well as some old guy. He looked at me and said "Pushing it Mr Shuter, take a seat, I'm secretary Ross." I said nothing and took a seat beside Natasha. She smiled at me, but I just nodded. I looked at Percy, who avoided my gaze. That was when Ross started talking
"The World owes and unpayable debt to the Avengers, you have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives for us, and while a great many people would call you heroes.. There are some who would prefer the word, vigilantes." that was when Natasha asked "And what word would you use Mr Secretary?" to which he replied "Dangerous. What would you call a US based group of super individuals who constantly ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they want and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind." My hand curled into a fist. He began to show us video recordings of manhatten, London, Washington, Sokovia, Lagos.
"Thats enough" Cap said. Ross looked at us and said "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. But I think we have a solution. 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."
I held up a hand saying "Woah, hold up there Secretary man. You want to control us? You think we are the threat to this world. I'm sorry.. But that is just a whole new level of stupid. Lets retake that history lesson. Manhatten, 2012. Aliens invade new york, a problem caused by YOUR government messing with a World War 2 relic which should have been long forgotten, and im not talking about Steve over here. Had the Avengers not formed, the damage would not have been contained to manhatten. You would be reporting to King Loki and in fact, manhatten wouldn't exist. I seem to recall a UN appointed World Security Council sending a nuke to destroy the island. Had Iron Man not flown that bastard into the portal.. Well that would have been a lot more deaths. Not to mention we totally had that portal nice and ready to close.. And after that it would have been a piece of cake to finish the rest of the Chitarui up. Okay now lets time jump to London 2013, the Convergence. Had Thor and I not stepped up, Malecath would have destroyed the universe, and 7 billion midgardians would have died, on top of all the races except dark elves in the universe. Another time jump, Washington DC, 2014. Hydra infiltrating the highest forms of government, including the world security council, SHIELD, and every other organization you can think of. They turn Insight against you, also may I add insight was a terrible and cruel idea, which I will gladly elaborate on later. Had Steve, Natasha, Sam and I not blown up those helicarriers, at least a 3rd of the population would have died, if not more. This includes you by the way. Another time jump, to 2015. Okay yes, Ultron was our fault, so those lives are on our hands, however, had we not done what we had done in Sokovia, an extinction level event would have occurred, killing everyone. May I just add we were prepared to go down with the city instead of leave anyone behind, so you can apologize anytime for all that 'no concern for what we leave behind' bullshit. Lastly, Lagos a month ago. We stopped Rumlow from distributing a chemical weapon which could have been used to kill thousands if not more. We made a mistake.. But we still saved lives. Now how can you sit there and patronize us for sacrificing a few lives to save billions when the World Security Council not once, but twice, voted to do something that did the very same thing. Insight.. The Nuke. You willingly voted to take lives.. At least we tried to save every one we could.. And yes we risked our lives.. Some of us have even died. I have lost many friends on the battlefield Ross, one very recently. We even lost one of our own.. Pietro Maximoff, and I tell you, this Accord is an insult to them, and an insult to those innocents who you are using for your own benefits." I panted, out of breath. I found myself standing, a finger pointed at Ross, my face red in anger... I may have even shouted some of that.
Steve said "Okay David.. I think you made your point." I shook my head "No, I'm not quite done yet. I just have to say.. That Folder looks pretty thick to JUST be about the Avengers. That includes all empowered people doesn't it. Demigods? Mutants? Inhumans? Meta Humans? Other vigilantes? You want a registry of everyone so you can use them to fight your wars, so you can take back what little control you no longer have." I could tell Ross was holding back his anger. He remained silent before saying "It does include a registry for all of those mentioned to sign and list their powers and breed, to keep the public safe. They have a right to know if a potentially dangerous person is their next door neighbor" This is when Percy said "You can't force them to do this! You don't know how dangerous it is to be a Demigod. Monsters already hunt you night and day, they use whatever they can. If one got a hold of this registry, every demigod would be in danger. Innocent people would die!"
Jason nods his agreement. Ross says "Consequences are an inevitability. Its either sign, or be deemed a criminal and hunted down until you sign or are captured. The UN meets in three days to ratify the accords. Talk it over. You either Sign Avengers... or you retire." He then left the room.
We convened in a more relaxing room to talk things over. Percy said "We can't do this. This isn't right. It takes away our rights, and those whom just want to live a normal life." Jason nodded "Demigods die every day to protect mortals from monsters and other beings. Many of died whom would never see glory by mortals in wars they never even knew about. This would take away their honor.. And their right to fight." Rhodes then said "You heard Ross.. If we don't sign.. We retire. If the world believes we are to be held responsible, and they give us this olive branch to keep fighting, then we need to sign. We can't leave the world unprotected." Cap then shook his head "We can't surrender our freedoms. We can't afford to wait for a council's seal of approval to fight. We may end up fighting battles we don't need to.. Or want to, and may end up being held back in battles we really need to be fighting. No. The safest hands are still our own." Tony then said "Listen. Ross is right. We have been parading around unchecked and many have died. See this boy. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. he wanted to put some miles on his soul first, before he parked it behind a desk. Now he didn't go to Italy, or Paris, or London or Las Vagas like I would have. He went to build homes for the less fortunate, he went to Sokovia. He did just that.. Until we showed up and dropped a building on his head. We aren't perfect, and we need to be put in check. This allowed us to continue to fight the good fight. We should sign. I'm signing." Natasha said "As much as I hate the government.. Tony has a point. Sokovia wouldn't have happened if we hadn't created Ultron." Vision said "In fact, In the 8 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." That was when Steve got a call, and said "I got to go." He left. The room was silent for a few moments before I said "I have to go too.." I then got up and left myself.