Chapter 45: Drama!
(Attendance please…)
….
Tony, after listening to Gojo's cynical but accurate assessment of human nature, finally opened his beer bottle. He took a long, deep gulp, then set the bottle down with a heavy thud. "I don't know, Satoru," he said, his voice raw, tired. "It's one thing seeing a disaster, another thing experiencing it, and another thing entirely being the one who caused it. And there's nothing, no justification, that can refute this one simple fact… I was the one who caused it. The results don't matter. It doesn't matter what it was for… it doesn't matter why it happened… or how Jarvis came to be. But it is an undeniable truth that all those deaths, in Sokovia and Lagos, they're on my hands. Just mine. And nothing can ever change that."
Gojo sighed, a sound of weary patience. "How does it feel?" he asked.
Tony looked at him, a bitter, self-deprecating smile on his face. "Like drowning in a pile of shit," he said, "and having everyone around you trying to convince you that it isn't shit, that it's actually… rose petals."
"A pretty disgusting example," Gojo replied flatly. "I meant, how does it feel to be the big, important person who takes all the burden of the world onto their shoulders and now feels like they owe the world everything they have, their entire life?"
Tony just turned his head and looked at him. No words came out of his mouth, but his eyes said enough.
Gojo just shrugged. "Well, it's pointless for me to say anything more, I guess. It seems you've already made up your mind on that point."
"I know what you'll think, what everyone will think when the Accords are presented to them, and I won't deny it has flaws," Tony said, his voice filled with a grim resolve. "But we aren't doing any good right now, Satoru. On the contrary, we're doing more bad than good. We need oversight. We need to be put in check."
"And how will that work, exactly, from the government's side?" Gojo asked, genuinely curious about the mechanics of it.
Tony took another gulp from his beer bottle. "Every super-powered individual, every enhanced person, will sign the papers," he explained, his voice like a tired professor's. "They'll agree not to use any of their powers by their own accords, but only under the direction of a United Nations panel, on government orders. Everything that happens after that, the responsibility, the blame, it will be on the government, not on us. It'll be like it was before, just… under government supervision. And one hundred and seventeen countries have already signed this order, Satoru. One hundred and seventeen countries that are in agreement."
Gojo let out a low whistle. "It's gone pretty far, huh?"
"I think," Tony continued, "the Avengers shouldn't be an independent, private organization. It was under S.H.I.E.L.D. when Fury created it. So, this will be no different than the Avengers being under the government's purview."
"And we all know how well SHEILD ended up. You should know first hand that not even the highest office of governments are infaliable." Gojo replied.
He then shrugged, and his casual demeanor returned. "I hope I'm not on that list of people who have to sign," he said. "Because I sure as hell wouldn't want to be. I mean, I'm not really inclined to be a hero, and I definitely don't have that 'protect everyone' disease."
"You're on the list too, Satoru," Tony confirmed. "And, quite surprisingly, but at the same time not, your name is in very bold, very large characters."
"Is that supposed to make me feel special or something?" Gojo asked, a hint of a smirk on his face.
"Did it?" Tony countered.
"No," Gojo said flatly. "You're mistaking 'making someone feel special' with 'making someone feel like a freak who needs to be monitored.'"
Tony sighed, clearly done with the banter. "I'm not here to play a game, Satoru. Just… come to the Avengers Compound tomorrow. Everyone is coming. Be sure to be there on time."
Gojo leaned back, feigning a look of deep thought. "Is it, like, compulsory? Because tomorrow is my yoga day. Very important for my spiritual balance."
Tony, already standing up from the sofa, didn't miss a beat. "What a surprise," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "We have a fully equipped yoga room in the new compound. You can use that."
Gojo, still sitting, looked up. "What? Is that the room that's supposed to be for Natasha, for… you know, practicing her laser-avoiding, spy-movie tasks?"
"Yeah, she uses it sometimes for that," Tony admitted.
As Tony reached the door, Gojo finally pushed himself up from the chair. "Well, I'll be there," he called out, stretching lazily. "You know, even though I don't quite like the sound of it. Sounds like it's going to have a lot of drama, and you know how I feel about drama." He paused, a wide grin spreading across his face. "So, yeah, I'll definitely be there to see it all go down."
Tony stopped, his hand on the doorknob, and looked back over his shoulder. "Well," he said, a hint of a tired smile on his lips, "anything is fine, as long as it makes you feel like coming."
"So," Gojo asked, his curiosity piqued, "who exactly is representing this whole scheme? Like, from the government's side? Who's the big shot they're sending to sell this to you people?"
Tony's smile widened slightly, becoming a little more genuine, a little more mischievous. "Well, you'll find out when you come tomorrow," he said. "And I'm sure you will be… surprised, to say the least. Maybe you'll even say what people say about bad movies… something like, 'Really? That's the twist? Such a cliché.'"
Gojo tilted his head. "Is this you trying to build hype, Tony? Or are you just saying this to make sure I'll come?" He shrugged. "But, oh well, I'll come for the drama. It'll be good to show off my handsome face to some old-timers and government suits. Though," he added, a playful glint in his eye, "no promises I'll behave."
"Jarvis is expecting you there," Tony said, a final, almost friendly, reminder. And with that, he opened the door and exited the apartment, leaving Gojo alone once more.
As the door was closing, Gojo shouted, his voice easily carrying through it, "It's not really cool to use our friendship against me like this! You hear me, you billionaire cyborg!" A faint chuckle from the hallway was his only reply.
….
A/N: So, how was it?! Yhh i think its been a week. Wouldn't lie, i already wrote ch 45 the next day, but i didn't like it, so i have been rewriting it this whole week again and again.
I have rewritten this chapter like already 5 times and this chaoter was the sixth .
Q: Who do you think is the representative pf the government this time as Ross is vegetable? (Hint: you all know him)
-(your answers)
Or in short just click in join via invite link in your discord and enter this code: 5Y7uZ2kN