Trick 168: Arguing over the Flag Smashers

Ace grabbed Bucky and wings grew on his back as he said quickly "Where, Buck!?" Bucky said "Underground! Southside tunnel!" Ace flapped his wings and dove into the ground, passing through rock, flying into a room as he heard gunshots.

Ace dropped Bucky and landed on the ground, running over to Sharon, pressing on her stomach, saying "What happened?! Are you okay?" Sharon smiled sweetly at him, "Just a gunshot wound." Ace pulled up her shirt and pressed on the wound, a bullet flying out into his hand as her wound healed instantly.

He let out a breath saying "Be more careful!" Sharon looked him in the eyes, saying "I got you, right?" Ace didn't know what to say, he smiled and caressed her cheek before turning around, seeing Karli in Sam's arms.

He walked over and kicked Sam to the side, stepping on Karli's chest and pressing down.

Bucky ran over and held Ace, saying "She's fine. Come on, Ace. Calm down… Haven't killed anyone yet, don't start now!" Sam got up and ran over, saying "He's right, Ace. Come on, that's it… Nice and easy."

Ace got off Karli and looked her in the eyes, an eerie grin sprawling across his face as he removed the mask, saying "You're dying… Only moments now…" he leaned over as Bucky and Sam held his arms.

He came face to face with Karli, saying "Then you'll be in my world, kid… You'll wish you never thought of starting a revolution, I can promise you that." Karli shivered on the ground as Ace grinned in her eyes, "Yeah, that's right. It was me. I'm the God of Death."

Her eyes widened and she cried "No…" before the light in her eyes dimmed and she died.

Ace cracked his neck, Bucky and Sam let him go as he said "I'll be right back." before turning into a shadow and diving into the ground, disappearing.

Sam and Bucky looked at each other, sighing. Bucky said "That's so weird, man." Sam replied "And you're normal?" Bucky pointed at the ground, saying "Hey! I'm not the one who supposedly went to Hell just now, okay?!" Sam retorted "Nah, you the guy with the metal arm and nightmares."

Bucky waved and crossed her arms, saying "Whatever, man!"

Ace returned to Hell and flew to Vanessa, saying "Hey Steve, Bye Steve." as he shot out of the castle.

Steve was sitting with Peggy, turning to Ace before looking back, "What?" Peggy looked at him and giggled.

Ace landed next to Vanessa and looked at Karli, grinning "Hey, long time no see." Karli was terrified and Ace looked at Vanessa, who cheered "Ace! You're back!" hugging him happily. Ace rubbed her head and smiled "For this one, she gets the V.I.P treatment."

Vanessa froze and said "W-WHAT?!" before turning to Karli, swallowing "Oh boy, sucks to be you. Only people who really piss him off get that." Karli asked, "What is it?" Vanessa clicked her tongue and looked at a clipboard, saying "All tortures known to Hell Lords, all at once, your pain senses are increased by 10,000 times, your mind is protected from breaking due to the pain and mental torture, and you are sentenced to eternity without possibility of parole…"

She looked up at Karli, smiling "Also! Everyone who knew you or what you stood for will forget completely. You will have nothing and no one anymore. We put you in a hole and throw away the hole. Enjoy your eternal suffering~! Please rate our service 5 stars!" as she wiggled her fingers, waving "Bye bye, whatever your name is!"

Karli shouted "No! Wait! Plea-" before chains burst from under her, wrapping around her body and dragging her into a crack in the ground as endless screams of pain and terror echoed from it, only stopping when it closed.

Ace let out a satisfied breath, "How nice! Another successful punishment, Vanny!" Vanessa waved her fist, cheering "Yay! Another Sinner down, endless to go!" Ace rubbed her head and hugged her tight, throwing her in the air, saying "You're the best, Vanny. What would I do without you?"

Vanessa flew high into the sky and cheered before being caught again, giggling "Probably nothing!" Ace laughed and kissed her head, "Good girl." Vanessa's entire being turned pink and she fainted as Ace laughed "I love doing that! Hahahhaa!" before flapping his wings and flying into the sky, returning to Earth.

He returned to see Sam asking weirdly "Who is this girl?" Bucky was also confused and Ace smiled "A terrorist. Good job, unfortunately she died… Well, anyway." as he walked over to Sharon, who looked at him teasingly, "Just a terrorist?"

Ace whispered "No more Karli, no more Flag Smashers, her life is worth nothing, never was. Plus…" he pulled out his soul, grinning "Shimmering just like diamonds." as he picked Sharon up in a princess carry. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned on his shoulder as he said "Self-Defense?"

Sharon nodded, "Mhm…"

Sam frowned and said "This girl, she was fighting for something, why can't I remember?" Ace said nonchalantly, "I removed her from existence." Sam and Bucky looked at him in shock, saying "What?!"

Ace said "The worst punishment known to Hell Lords, to make that person and everything they were a part of disappear into nothing. Nobody will remember her, nobody will remember her cause, none of her family will know her, none of her friends will know why they're fighting, nothing."

Sam pointed at him, saying "You don't get to make that call!" Ace snorted and turned to him, holding Sharon as he said "Actually, I do. She was viable for the punishment and I gave her the heaviest one in the entire Realm of the Dead. You can't punish someone so severely if they weren't evil. Some people can't be saved."

Sam walked over and said "She shot Sharon, is that what this is about?!" Ace frowned and said "Fine! You want to remember!? Here, you can remember the fanatical communist terrorist that wanted to overthrow the government because she had to leave someone else's fucking house when they came back from the DEAD!"

Ace butt heads with Sam, saying "You got snapped, what if someone was living in your home? Would you let them stay there, take all your things, use all your memories? How about your ship, what if they took apart your parent's boat and made a treehouse! Oh! Nothing to say anymore, eh, Sam? That's what I thought, man."

Ace scoffed and continued "There is no easy solution. The people who benefited from the snap can only blame their bad luck! It doesn't belong to them! It's not fair! And guess what, life isn't fair, Sam. You and I both know that. We lay down our lives for these people each and every single day."

Sam frowned and said "You can't just erase someone's entire life!" Ace laughed and retorted "What did she achieve!? You know I saved millions of people? The Flag Smashers never existed in this world because she was forgotten! How many people will be spared from being hunted down like HYDRA!? How many more deaths will it take for you to come to your fucking senses!?"

Ace pointed his chin at Karli's corpse, saying "People like her, they say they want fairness, but they don't. They want what other people have. They want everything for free because they believe that they are entitled to it just for existing! You don't get what you want all the time! You aren't special because you exist! We don't live in a fantasy world where you can be whatever you wanna be and have whatever you wanna have!"

Sam shouted "So you're gonna ignore everything! You're gonna let the people running the world to continue relocating refugees! People are starving! They're hungry! They don't have homes! They are broke! They can't get loans! Do you understand?! It's important!"

Ace shouted "I UNDERSTAND!" before letting out a breath and calming down, saying "I get it. And I don't have all the answers. Nobody does, Tony is trying to help these people, but they gotta help themselves. It may be cruel to say but nobody in this world can afford to carry the rest of it on their back. There's only so much you can do before they gotta do it themselves. The people who have no homes can get jobs. They can cut grass, shovel snow, trim trees, build themselves back up again! Nobody is helpless in this world."

Ace tilted his head to Bucky, saying "Look at Bucky. He's trying to do his best, who's helping him? Nobody. Nobody's fighting for Buck, nobody cares about the Winter Soldier. He's doing his best by himself because he doesn't have anyone to lean on! If everyone was like Bucky and took control of their own lives without complaining, we wouldn't have this problem!"

He paused and sighed, "You can't blame the Government for giving people back what they had before. I pay for a house for 25 years, then I get snapped and come back to see someone else living in my house for free because I paid for everything? Is that fair to you? How about you, Sam? You got snapped for 5 years, I bet nobody is helping you. Can you get a loan from the bank? Can you even apply for anything?"

Sam frowned and said slowly "No." Ace looked him in the eyes, saying "But what are you doing? You're not begging for someone to save you. You're doing what you can. You're dealing with it like an adult. This movement, this revolution… It's all bullshit for children! Whoever agrees with freckle jesus over there, is an idiot and a childish bum. I'm sorry, you can't change my mind."

Sam turned to Bucky, who had his arms crossed, tongue pressed against his cheek, Sam said "You?" Bucky made a hard to look at face, saying "Sam… I mean, he's right. You can't help everybody, at some point they have to help themselves. I came and helped you work on your boat, right? I'm not gonna stay there forever… They gotta take control of their own lives. Even before I joined the army we had to crawl and claw for everything… Sorry… but these people, yeah they're unlucky, but… They're soft, man."

Sam turned back to Ace and back at Bucky, snorting "I see how it is." Ace said "Sam, come on. It's not like that, man. I was an orphan stealing food to survive but I never asked for help. I lived in alleys full of trash, living like a racoon, but I'm here now, right? I didn't blame the world because I was unfortunate."

Bucky held out his hand at Ace, saying "I was nothing before I joined the Army, Sam. We all know what it's like to struggle and we sympathize but…" Sam nodded and waved his hands, saying "Yeah, you gotta do it yourself. I gotcha. Whatever, man." as he walked away.

Ace sighed and said "Sam, wait!" Sam held his hand up, saying "I don't want to hear it. Go on erasing what you don't like. I don't want to be a part of it." Ace said quickly "Sam, listen. That's not what we meant!"

Sam turned around and pointed at Ace and Bucky, saying "Nah! You listen! We are heroes, man! We protect the people, but that doesn't mean we ignore them! We gotta do better!" Bucky retorted "We saved half the Universe, man. How much better can we be?"

Sam snorted with a frown, Ace added "Plus, Sam, you can do all you can but how? You're gonna go on goodwill alone? You have no money! Tony has all the money in the world and even he can't do it! You can't help someone who can't even help themselves!" Bucky nodded, adding "If you needed help, we wouldn't even hesitate to help you."

Sam said "Well, I'm asking you for help now. Are you gonna help me?" Ace and Bucky looked at him silently, Sam nodded, "Exactly. Thank you for proving my point." as he walked away.

Ace said "Wait. I know you're tight on cash. I can help you with your loan situation, get you out of a bad spot. And we can work something out with Tony, set up a fund for the refugees but other than that, Sam. There's nothing we can do."

Sam retorted, "I don't need your charity." Ace sighed, "It's not a charity. I'm giving you a loan! I know about your situation." Sam was silent and Ace shook his head, adding "It sucks but what can you do, ya know?"

Bucky said quietly, "Come on, Sam…"

Sam turned his head and said "I'll pay you back. I promise." Ace smiled slightly and nodded, "Whatever, man. No interest, old friend discount." Bucky smiled and Sam sighed, turning around as he said "You guys are just as stubborn as Steve, you know that right?"

Ace smirked and Bucky chuckled, "That's a good thing, right?" Sharon smiled gently, looking at Ace's happy face, feeling warm in her heart. He was such a nice guy, although sometimes he nearly flies off the edge, he really is a saint.

She squinted happily, her little saint.

The next day

Ace was standing outside of a government building, holding a coffee with his other hand in his pocket, leaning on a square pillar as Sharon walked out with a suit. She smiled at him as she said on the phone "Start lining up our buyers. 10 Super Soldiers on the menu, but we're about to have full access to government secrets, prototype weapons, you name it. Should be something for everyone."

Before hanging up the phone as Ace took a sip, saying "Need a lift, Madam Power Broker?" Sharon curled her lips and said "One ticket to Madripoor, handsome." Ace chuckled and she wrapped her arms around his neck as huge white wings sprouted from his back one at a time.

He looked at her, smiling "Hold on tight." before wrapping his arms around her waist as his wings flapped, shooting them into the sky instantly, stunning the onlookers.

Ace stayed with Sharon and the kids in Madripoor, shuttling from the US to their Home and Madripoor daily. It wasn't really an issue for Ace, he liked being with his family again, although his wife was a criminal…

But at least she was the biggest criminal, right?

There was merit in being the best?

Right…

Anyway!

2 months passed calmly

Until one day, Ace got a call from Wong, asking if he wanted to come be a witness to his Sorcerer Supreme trials. Ace was stunned and said sure, so here he was…