Chapter 38

TONY STARK ON THE WITNESS STAND

As the nation and the world follows the trial of disgraced heroes Tony Stark and Reed Richards, the spectators have been given a disturbing insight in the true background of the so-called Civil War that tore apart the superhuman community just a few short years ago, culminating in the death of the beloved Captain America. Long presented as a democratic response to the volatile nature of superhuman conflict, the trial has revealed shocking evidence of widespread government corruption and abuses of power, some of which is tied to high levels of the U.S government itself. While some supporters still defend these actions as necessary to prevent further destruction, support for the SRA and the current administration is at an all-time low. Things deteriorated even further today as Tony Stark himself finally took to the witness stand...

- Daily Bugle

...

"-Rogers death was a devastating loss to both his fellow heroes and the entire United States, but I promise you that neither me, nor anyone else affiliated with the SRA had anything to do with his death. What could we possibly have to gain from killing my- our friend?"

Jen regarded Stark cooly, noticing the faint quiver in his voice whenever he spoke about what had happened to Steve. She didn't care how bad he felt about it. "You have a strange way of treating your FRIENDS, Mr Stark. Do you threaten everyone else with life imprisonment and assassination, or are the ones in costume just special that way?"

Stark clenched his fists, holding back his anger "Steve Rogers made his own choices, he chose to stand against the choice of the people and the rule of law-"

Jen cut him off "We have witness testimony from active SHIELD agents that your former subordinate Maria Hill tried to have Steve Rogers imprisoned BEFORE the law was even enacted, because she knew that Captain America would refuse to comply with a blatantly unconstitutional law."

"I was not in charge of SHIELD at the time, if you have a problem with it, take it up with Nick Fury. You know, if you can find him."

"Yet you made no effort during your tenure as Director of SHIELD to discipline or even admonish Maria Hill for her actions. We have further evidence of other violations committed both by Hill and other operatives during your tenure that were simply covered up and ignored."

"Objection! This trial is not to establish the guilt of Maria Hill" The leader of Stark's overpriced lawyer team blurted out.

"The prosecution is simply trying to establish the various abuses used to force the SRA into law, your honor!"

The judge thought for a moment. "I'll allow it, but please try to keep this relevant, Miss Walters."

"Thank you, your honor" Jen nodded "Mr Stark, is it not true that the SRA was not only unlawfully implemented, but also enforced inconsistently, leading to the arrests of superhumans with no intention of vigilantism?"

Stark shook his head "I can't speak for every individual case, but-"

"And is it not also true that The Initiative, your brainchild to train underage superhumans to work as enforcers for the SRA, led to the deaths of atleast one minor thanks to incompetence?" Jen felt some satisfaction at the stunned look on Starks face "The prosecution would like to submit the REAL coronary report on Michael Van Patrick, aka MVP"

...

DEATH AT CAMP HAMMOND

The trial of Tony Stark revealed further corruption on the part of the SRA today, as evidence was presented showing that the death of Michael Van Patrick, one of the first cadettes for The Initative at Camp Hammond, did not occur as had been previously reported. Instead, his death was due to a misshap during a poorly executed training scenario, and far more ghoulishly, attempts were made to replace Van Patrick with a clone in an attempt at covering up the incident according to files submitted by the prosecution. Camp personel Joseph Green and Werner Von Blitzschlag have been brought in for questioning.

- New York Times

There was a crash as the coffee cup Brian Van Patrick had been drinking from smashed against the wall, the brown liquid staining the kitchen wallpaper. Seething, he tore the paper in half.

"Stark, you son of a bitch. I don't care what hole they stick you in after this, it's only a taste of what I'm going to do to you!!"

.....

"Mr Stark, what was Project Lightning?"

Stark looked away "It was a top secret project The Initative created to increase our combat capabilities"

"No, Mr Stark. As our evidence here shows, it was an attempt by yourself, Hank Pym and Werner Von Blitzschlag to create a clone of former Avengers member Thor. One that was under your control."

The crowd began to murmur, but Stark spoke over them "We had to do something to increase our manpower, recruiting existing superhumans and retraining them to follow proper discipline was taking too long and we had to take a stand against the Anti-Registration vigilantes as soon as possible, otherwise everything we worked for would have been for nothing! Thor had been missing for months, we needed someone of his power on our side!"

Jen bit back what she really wanted to tell him "So you decided the best bet was to create a brainwashed copy of one of your oldest friends?"

"Thor would have understood, he was a leader too, he knew that sometimes you only had bad choices ,and had to pick the least horrible one."

"And what about Bill Foster, Mr Stark? Did he deserve to die so you could make a stand?"

Stark paled "...Fosters death was an unfortunate accident, we didn't have time to test the clone properly, we had a chance to end the conflict quickly, and we took it." He slumped back in his seat "It was an accident..."

"It's funny, Mr Stark, there seems to be a lot of accidents around you, yet it's always someone else who have to pay for your mistakes."

.....

CLONE WARS

Following the controversy surrounding the secret use of cloning technology by The Initiative, the debate surrounding the issue has been re-ignited. While human cloning is technically illegal, the issue was largely thought to be academic until several years ago when it was revealed that large strides had been made with cloning technology by several private individuals working in secret, most notably the now-deceased Miles Warren, Professor of Biology at Empire State University, leading to several attempts at further legislating cloning, with several vague and often contradictory laws being passed. The controversy has caused further problems for the SRA, as even former hardliners are becoming increasingly critical of the bill.

- Daily Bugle

Hanging upside down, his feet clinging to the underside of a gargoyle far above the New York streets, Spiderman made a sound of disgust and tossed the newspaper aside.

"Clones. Like I didn't have enough reason to be pissed at Stark. It had to be clones."

Far away from New York City, a tall, muscular man with long, blonde hair stops at a rest stop somewhere in Iowa. The clerk at the gas station only gives him a brief glance, and doesn't even notice the Asgardian armor hidden under his oversized sweatshirt, even as the man pays for a newspaper, a sixpack of cheap beer and a surprising amount of beef jerky.

"Thou would call thyself my brother in arms, Stark?" Thor says to himself in the solitude of his motel room later that day as he follows the trial of the man he once thought of as closer than blood. "Thou art nothing but a viper, and your vile betrayal will be far more costly than thou might think."

...

Every new revelation seemed to deflate Tony Stark even further, every shady dealing, every underhanded tactic, all done in the name of the greater good, were dragged into the light and skewered mercilessly in front of an increasingly unsympathetic court room. His own defence, that it had all been to avert something even worse, fell on deaf ears, and was beginning to sound increasingly hollow even to himself.

But he didn't care. He was right, he HAD to be right about this. Or else everything they had done was for nothing.

Rubbing his forehead, trying to ignore the headache pounding against his temples, he tried to answer Walters latest accusation "We HAD to do something, the government was fed up with all the damage superhero battles were causing, they were tired of one-man armies that couldn't reliably be contained or punished, the constant threats to social stability, Stamford was just the straw that broke the camels back. Don't you understand, the U.S government couldn't keep coexisting with metahumans they couldn't control, the SRA was the best option! I admit the implementation wasn't perfect, but it was better than the alternative!"

"And what was the alternative, Mr Stark?" Jen said in a cold voice.

"What do you think?!" Stark yelled, his hands gripping the front of the booth tightly "Military responses! Martial law! Extermination camps! You think the SRA was bad, you should see the kind of things some higher ups were pushing for-" Shaking his head, Stark calmed himself "It was this or open war with the government. I- WE did what we had to do to avoid a worst-case scenario. That's something Steve Rogers never understood, something he never wanted to accept. Ideals are all well and good, but at the end of the day, someone needs to hold the country together, and pretty words isn't going to cut it. Leaders have to make tough choices, sacrifices have to be made, for the greater good."

"A sacrifice implies personal loss, Mr Stark." Jen said, her voice dripping with contempt "You haven't lost anything during all this, you've actually gotten RICHER off it. The only people losing anything were the ones who thought you were their friend. That's not sacrifice, that's betrayal." She turned, walking back to the prosectutors desk

"No further questions."