"Relax. The Sokovia Accords don't really matter that much anymore. This so-called oversight was just an excuse from the start. Once we catch the real mastermind behind all this, the Accords won't have much authority over us anyway."
Tony spoke slowly.
At first, he had genuinely believed the Accords were a good thing.
Superpowered individuals needed oversight. They needed restraint. They needed to stop causing collateral damage, spreading fear, and hurting innocent people.
But now Tony realized something—
The moment power fell into the hands of specific people, neutrality and fairness vanished.
The agencies supposedly meant to supervise the Avengers had never truly cared about justice.
They cared about themselves.
About power.
Take Ross, for example.
As Secretary of State, he had directly installed a loyal member of the Ross family into the oversight structure. The man contributed absolutely nothing except throwing his weight around and making idiotic decisions.
It was obvious.
Ross had planted him there to monitor and restrain the Avengers.
Tony couldn't help but question himself now.
Did the Sokovia Accords really need to exist?
Did the Avengers truly need oversight?
If another world-ending crisis happened, would those oversight agencies stand with them?
Or would they abandon the Avengers to protect themselves?
Would they launch another nuclear missile like during the Battle of New York?
Tony didn't know the answer.
But he did know one thing—
Those so-called oversight organizations would never value civilian lives, peace, or humanity the way the Avengers did.
To them, peace was only tied to profit and authority.
Without benefits involved, peace itself was meaningless.
The group returned to the New Avengers Facility aboard the Quinjet.
The moment they entered the main hall, waves of heavily armed soldiers flooded in, rifles raised at every Avenger present.
Outside, dozens of armored vehicles had already surrounded the plaza.
Advanced electromagnetic weapons and sonic cannons all locked onto the Avengers simultaneously.
"Steve Rogers. Tony Stark."
Ross stood behind the military lines holding a loudspeaker.
"You have violated the Sokovia Accords. As Secretary of State, I order all of you to surrender immediately!"
"Ross," Tony snapped, "you were the one who told me to bring Steve back. Now he's here. What exactly did we violate?"
Nanotech instantly spread across Tony's body into full armor mode.
At the same time, every Avenger entered combat readiness.
"You destroyed an airport and caused severe property damage. Furthermore, you cooperated with wanted fugitives. That is absolutely unacceptable."
Ross sneered coldly.
"I told you to arrest them—not join forces with them."
It was obvious now.
Ross was simply inventing charges.
Whether age had finally rotted his brain or not, the old man had openly gone back on his word.
"See?"
Steve looked toward Tony.
"This is exactly why I refused to sign the Accords."
"These people can't be trusted."
Steve had known the true face of politicians since World War II.
The compromises.
The deals.
The betrayals.
Everything was done for利益—personal gain.
They would even sacrifice soldiers bleeding on the front lines if it benefited them.
To people like Ross, human lives were just bargaining chips.
"Tony," Steve said quietly, "you were too naïve."
Tony fell silent.
His original intention had been good.
He'd wanted the Accords to restrain dangerous superhumans and prevent reckless destruction.
But now he finally saw the truth—
The Accords had become a political bargaining tool.
The Avengers themselves were nothing more than chess pieces in the games of the powerful.
Just another expendable part of their play.
"Ross," Tony asked coldly, "what exactly do you want?"
"Simple."
Ross no longer bothered hiding his intentions.
"All of you will surrender immediately and accept UN judgment."
"The Avengers will be officially disbanded."
"You will then be reassigned individually across the world for operations while remaining under twenty-four-hour surveillance."
At that moment, everyone—including Tony—finally understood.
This wasn't merely manipulation anymore.
Ross had completely shown his hand.
The goal from the very beginning had been to dismantle the Avengers.
A concentrated group of superhumans terrified the people in power.
So they wanted to scatter them across the globe.
Separate them.
Weaken them.
Control them individually.
Turn them into obedient weapons working for political interests.
"Hah."
Erik laughed mockingly.
"Same old garbage."
"You politicians really do have that many dirty secrets, huh? So scared people might find out?"
Erik knew this game all too well.
He used to be one of America's covert blades.
He'd carried out enough black-ops assassinations to know exactly how ugly things behind the curtain really were.
"You are no longer a citizen of this country," Ross replied icily.
"We will arrange transport for you and King T'Challa back to Wakanda."
"At the same time, the United Nations will formally review Wakanda's membership status."
It was a direct threat.
Ross was using Wakanda's UN position as leverage.
"You really think the United Nations belongs to America?"
Erik scoffed.
"Don't overestimate yourselves."
Beside him, T'Challa remained silent, but his eyes had become sharp as blades.
With Wakanda's current technological and military power, flattening the United States wasn't difficult at all.
Even nuclear missiles posed little threat.
Wakanda possessed the capability to detonate them before they ever left American airspace.
Neither T'Challa nor Erik took Ross seriously in the slightest.
"Ross."
Karl's cold voice suddenly rang out.
"I'm giving you five minutes."
"Write a will to Betty."
"Consider it my way of honoring Bruce."
"Five minutes from now, no matter where you are—you die."
Karl's expression remained utterly calm as he looked at Ross like a dead man walking.
He'd already spared Ross multiple times.
Yet the man simply refused to learn.
Since Ross insisted on courting death, Karl was more than willing to oblige.
"Karl Norman!"
Ross shouted fearlessly.
"As Secretary of State, I order you to surrender immediately!"
"You have severely violated anti-terrorism laws and national security regulations!"
"If you continue resisting, I will authorize lethal force on behalf of the United States!"
Ross looked completely confident.
Clearly, he had a trump card prepared.
Karl merely glanced outside indifferently.
"Your confidence comes from those things out there?"
His gaze swept over the armored vehicles and the electromagnetic and sonic weapon systems mounted atop them.
"They are America's latest cutting-edge weapons," Ross declared proudly.
"They were specifically designed to counter monsters like you."
"Your abilities are useless against them."
The military's weapons division had analyzed vast amounts of data from Avengers members before pouring enormous resources into developing specialized anti-superhuman weaponry.
And according to testing results—
The weapons had performed excellently.
"Specifically designed to counter me?"
Karl smiled faintly.
"Like this?"
A flash of light appeared in his eyes.
Magic power erupted instantly from his body.
High above the sky, a massive vortex suddenly formed.
At its center, an orange-red glow began to emerge.
The light grew larger and larger—
Then a gigantic meteor slowly pushed its way out from the swirling portal.
The Zodiac Meteor.
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