Whose Side Are You On?
“New Warriors, a group of young superheroes, attempted to stop a villain named Nitro, killing over 600 civilians, 60 of whom were children in the process.”
“I knew this day would come—those who call themselves the superheroes are the real problem-“
“Protests are continuing outside of the Avengers Mansion-“
Tony sighed, taking a sip from the beer and closing the TV. From the moment he formed The Avengers, from the moment the superheroes started to surface, he expected this day to come. The day when the very humans they saved every day to turn against them and started blaming them for the fucked up world they lived in. The thing bothered Tony Stark was that, they were right. Okay, the world had bad enough in it when there weren’t superheroes, and now it was just worse. Villains becoming superheroes, superheroes becoming villains. Switching sides. He didn’t even know who was right anymore. He was tired of it all. He knew what he had to do; he knew it for a long time now. So he wasn’t surprised when his phone started ringing and when he saw “Agent Hill” on the screen of it. He picked it up.
“Hi, Maria.”
“We need to talk.” Tony, once again, sighed.
***
“Things are gonna go down, Steve, you know it. They were expecting this.” Luke Cage said. Steve nodded. He always thought American people would stand by his side and his fellow superheroes. He never imagined they would-they would hate him. He had to be calm. He was the leader; he had to keep it together. They would handle this-he would talk to Tony and they would handle this. Yes, he just needed to speak with Tony; they would come up with a plan. This thought calmed him.
“Cap..?” Luke said with disbelief and showed the TV.
“Yes, I will be the one leading the Superhuman Registration Act along with Agent Maria Hill and S.H.I.E.L.D. The events in Stamford were the most unfortunate and require some arrangements about the place of superhumans in the society.” Tony Stark, his friend,was saying.
“I hereby announce that Superhuman Registration Act has passed as law.The act requires any person in the United States with superhuman abilities to register with the federal government as a "human weapon of mass destruction," reveal their true identity to the authorities, and undergo proper training. Those who sign also have the option of working for S.H.I.E.L.D., earning a salary and benefits such as those earned by other American civil servants.”
Steve just stared to the screen, not believing what he just heard. It was Tony. Tony. His best friend. The man who fought beside for years. The man he- He just couldn’t believe it. It was his Tony, on TV, saying things, things Steve would never agree with. This act he talked about- it was the violation of civil liberties and the protection that secret identities provide. Families would get hurt once the villains they fought learn who they really are. Steve himself was known by every person on the planet as Captain America but most of his friends wore masks and they had families to protect. He would never agree with this. He had no idea what Tony,Iron Man, was thinking but this was not the Tony he knew and not the Tony---he had fallen in love with.
He never expected, of course, Tony to return his feelings nor did he express them to him. He just looked at him and fought beside him, protected him whenever he can and been his best friend when he needed him. Steve knew Tony, every move and every word, every thought he had and his fucked up world. But he never knew, that Tony could agree to something like that. He bowed his head and reminded himself that now he didn’t get to think about those things, about Tony, he had work to do. He had other people to think about. Friends. Families. But somehow, Tony was all he could think about at the moment.
“….and the people who resist registering will be arrested and taken into custody. S.H.I.E.L.D agents and I will be working on that. All superheroes must register till Saturday 00:00.------------------I-- Thank you.” were Tony’s last words before walking off the stage, looking determined but somehow disturbed. Luke and Steve looked at each other, nodding, making a silent promise. They would protect their friends no matter what from this so-called registration.
***
“An underground movement?!” Tony almost shouted.
“Yes, Tony, and you will bring them to custody.” Agent Hill said in a smooth voice. Tony stared at him disbelief.
“Yes, but I--my friends…” He muttered under his breath.
“Don’t get emotional on me now, Stark.” Hill said impatiently. “This is more important than your friends-more important than you. Innocent people have died because of unregistered superheroes acting on their own will. I want these people in custody and registered as soon as possible. Most of them registered yesterday but others got brave and hiding underground leaded by nation’s oldest superhero Cap-“
“What?” Tony interrupted her. “What did you say?”
“Jesus, Tony, are you even listening to me?” She rolled her eyes.
“You said nation’s oldest- Is Cap leading the movement?!” He couldn’t believe that. He couldn’t stand that. He was supposed to be on his side. Leading with him.
“What did you expect? He’s Captain America.” She stated. Yes, what did Tony expect? Of course he would oppose this. And how did he expect him to be on his side when he wasn’t even sure he was doing the right thing? He didn’t even tell him what he was going to do, going and threating his friends on live TV. He should have known. His love for him wouldn’t just make him support his decision. He didn’t even love him back. But these things didn’t matter anymore. He had to stick to the decision he made. He fought back tears and stood up.
“Gather your forces. We will be going to the streets tonight. And inform me about the both sides.” Tony said in determination.
“Okay, now, we are more in number. You, Reed Richards, Hank Pym are the public faces of the registration. On other side, Captain America, Luke Cage and Falcon are the leaders for the anti-registration. Wakanda is neutral; Storm and Black Panther said they didn’t want to be involved in either side. It would be really good if we had Wakanda’s forces on our side though. Wonder Man and Ms.Marvel are on our side also. It would be great to have Thor alive in this situation.” Agent Hill stated. Tony knew, they would win. But they would never win when they were forced to kill their loved ones.
“Maria-I—just promise me, none of them will be killed. I cannot agree with that and I will not allow that.” Hill nodded, though Tony knew she didn’t mean it. There would be casualties and no matter how he tried to protect all of them, something irreversible would happen. And Tony would not be able to bear that. Especially if something happened to Steve. He wished in all of his heart that, if they were to die, he would be the first.