How the Good and the Villain Saved Each Other

The next day, the trial entered the defense evidence link, and Captain America was the first to appear in court as a witness.

"What is your relationship with the defendant?" Rocky asked. He asked Steve to testify mainly because he wanted to use the other party's reputation and appeal to play a round of emotional cards, so he deliberately slowed down the pace of the inquiry.

"We are close friends. We have known each other since we were teenagers. We went to school together and experienced World War II together. Bucky fell off a cliff during a mission and was forcibly transformed and frozen by the Soviets. I was frozen because I drove a plane into the Arctic Ocean until [-] The snake ordered Bucky to get rid of me before the "Insight Project" was implemented, and we met again." Steve replied eloquently, and the courtroom was silent, and everyone unconsciously raised their ears to listen carefully. Captured by the innate awe-inspiring righteousness and charisma.

"Can you describe your reunion?"

Steve glanced at Bucky and bit his lip: "Back then he didn't recognize me anymore, he was desperately trying to kill me, he even shot a rocket at me, blasting me from the bridge to Under the bridge, if it were an ordinary person, I'm afraid he would have died a long time ago."

"Did you recognize him then?"

"Of course," Steve replied firmly, "the first time I saw Bucky he was still wearing a mask, but I had already begun to feel that this person was familiar, and then his mask fell off during the fight, and I recognized him at a glance , even though he is not quite the same as before, I can always recognize him."

"So freezing doesn't do much harm to the memory system?"

"I think so."

"Then why doesn't he recognize you?"

"Because he was used as an experimental product by Major General Vasily Karpov of the former Soviet Union," Steve replied calmly, but no one could ignore the anger in his blue eyes, like a faint blue flame dancing and burning under the ice, "Forced to switch between freezing, brainwashing, and performing missions, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and being resold to Hydra as if he were not a person but an object."

"How did you know this?"

"I had to find out what happened to Bucky, so please a friend to do some research."

"Is it these?" Rocky handed over a folder for Steve to look at, and the latter nodded: "This is it."

Loki gestured to the staff, and the file of the Winter Soldier that Natasha obtained through a friend in Kiev was immediately displayed in front of everyone, and the two contrasting photos were particularly eye-catching: one was from Sergeant Barnes James, dressed in a military uniform, with a military cap crookedly on his head, looks lively and agile, with the corners of his mouth raised, and his brown eyes full of smiles and hope; the other is the Winter Soldier locked in a freezer. Cold, eyes closed, lifeless, like Steve just said, like he's not a person but a dead thing.

"You just mentioned that the defendant is your close friend," the prosecutor stood up and said softly, as if he was also deeply shocked by Bucky's misfortune. "You must have a good relationship."

"Yes," Steve said bluntly, "Bucky is anyone's dream friend. He is loyal, brave, and considerate. Before I received the serum injection, I was often bullied and stared at. He has always encouraged me, Help me, protect me; he was on my back in World War II, and Steve Rogers wouldn't exist without James Barnes."

"So, even if you are not related by blood or marriage, emotionally speaking, you are no different from relatives, right?"

"Yes."

"In that case, do you want your friend to be acquitted?"

"I hope he gets what he deserves," Steve replied without changing his face, stepping over the trap of the other's words with a very natural attitude, "and, before standing on the witness stand, I I solemnly swore an oath under the witness of all present, nothing but the truth."

Frustrated in his attempt, the prosecutor had to turn to another strategy.

"According to incomplete statistics, your best friend James Barnes brutally killed at least 20 American citizens during his time as the Winter Soldier. Do you think such actions are worthy of forgiveness?"

"At that time, he was accused and lost his free will. You can't put the blame on a gun."

"Captain Rogers, you have been emphasizing that the defendant is just a gun, a weapon, but he is not, he is still a person, a living person, and not without autonomy. Could it be that he eats, sleeps, and defecates at nine Can it be done under the control of a snake? He even knows how to shoot, how to hit the target with precision, which is what a gun, a weapon, and a lifeless marionette can do?"

The expressions of the jury were relaxed, as if they agreed with the prosecutor's statement, but Loki just calmly raised his hand and brushed his long black hair behind his back—very well, everything is running smoothly according to his plan.

The second defense witness is Professor Stein from Harvard University's School of Psychology, who is also an FBI consultant and a hypnotist.

"Professor Stein, as an authority in the field of human behavior research, can you demonstrate for us how hypnosis and personality remodeling affect people's autonomous will?"

The old professor nodded calmly: "Personality reshaping requires a long process, and this method is extremely dangerous, so it is not suitable to show it here, but hypnosis is no problem."

"What if the hypnotized subject has serious resistance?"

"Then I need the help of equipment or medicine."

"Have you brought available medicines with you?"

The professor took out a small brown bottle from his briefcase and put it on the witness stand: "I'm going to do hypnotherapy for a patient after the trial, so luckily, I brought this medicine with me."

After getting permission from the judge, Rocky turned to look at Blair Ketar: "Would you mind doing me a favor? I think you are the best candidate."

The prosecutor shrugged and spread his hands: "Sorry, but this may interfere with my brain and affect subsequent inquiries and debates."

"It's a good reason." Rocky didn't dwell on this issue, "Then please choose a volunteer from the auditorium to participate in the live demonstration."

Countless hands were raised, and people looked at the prosecutor eagerly, hoping that they could be selected.Ketar rolled his eyes and clicked on a middle-aged man with brown hair.The man was not tall, and his figure was only medium, but his eyes were calm and peaceful, full of wisdom, he seemed well educated, had his own thoughts and beliefs, and was extremely difficult to be moved and disturbed by the outside world.Under everyone's attention, he went to sit in an armchair just opposite to Professor Stan, took the water and a small pill from the professor, thanked him, and took the pill.

"Please wait patiently for 5 minutes. It will take a while for the medicine to take effect." Professor Stein explained carefully, "During this period, I need to get a general understanding of our volunteer."

He unhurriedly asked the man's name, hobbies, including favorite colors, music, where he has traveled recently, who is in the family and other basic questions. When the pill made the other party stunned, he slowly guided him into into a hypnotized state.

"Raise your left arm." Professor Stein gave a very simple instruction, and the man did it in a snap.

"Now, open your eyes and go and get me the glasses of the gentleman in the black lapel T-shirt in the last row of the gallery."

The man followed the instruction and opened his eyes to look at the auditorium. After locking on to the target, he got up and stepped up the steps. He walked up to the person step by step, reached out and took off the other person's glasses, then turned around and walked back to the witness stand step by step. Give the glasses to Stan.

"Very good," Stan took the glasses, then picked up the medicine instructions at hand and handed them to the man: "Read it to me."

The man took the paper in a daze, and read it seriously. Some of the technical terms of the medicinal ingredients were long and not commonly used. He stumbled while reading, but the voice sounded normal, not as mechanical as people imagined. rigid.

The old professor listened patiently until the man was trapped by a rambling word, and then he spoke again: "Okay, thank you, Brad, now close your eyes and listen to my voice carefully, I will count down from three to one , the more you count, the more you will wake up, and you will wake up when you count to one. 3, you start to wake up--2, you become more and more awake--1--"

The man opened his eyes and looked blankly at Professor Stan, who smiled: "Mr. Blake, thank you for your cooperation. Please return to your seat after a short rest."

Then he turned his head and scanned the jury and gallery.

"From the little experiment just now, we can see that I just gave Mr. Blake a simple instruction during the whole process, and he completed this instruction entirely by relying on his own ability, but this does not mean that he can Control one's own will." He explained in plain language, "Therefore, the defendant's ability to eat, sleep, defecate, and use guns independently during the period of control cannot be used as an element for judging that he has free will."

If it is said that Professor Stein's live demonstration has brought a lot of shock to the jury, then the third defense witness who was summoned can be said to have shocked the audience. The lights must have blinded everyone—Tony Stark stood on the witness stand in a solid black suit.

Rocky stood up slowly as the defense lawyer, and the eyes of the two briefly intertwined and then separated.

"The defendant stopped and killed your father Howard Stark and mother Maria Stark on the road in 1991, right?" Loki asked, his expression serious, but his tone softened. .

"Yes." Mr. Stark swept away his usual cynicism and replied solemnly, and there was a small commotion in the court.

"Have you ever imagined killing him yourself for revenge?"

"Yes."

The commotion in the courtroom grew louder, and Rocky immediately asked the question everyone wanted to ask: "Are you sure you want to appear as a witness for the defendant and not on the side of the prosecution?"

"Yes."

"So, may I understand that you decided to forego revenge and forgive the defendant for the crimes committed against your parents?"

Tony was silent for a moment.

"Things are not that simple." He said slowly, this is not common, the language of Lord Stark is usually as active as his thinking, "These days, I have been thinking about how the hatred should end. Should he personally kill the enemy and let the bullet pass through his chest? Or resort to the law and make prison the destination for the rest of his life? But is revenge really the same as ending hatred? The answer is no, hatred will never end One day, it lives in your body like a parasite, robbing you of your sanity during the day and leaving you in a trance, and entering your dreams at night to keep you from sleeping. It haunts you like a walking shadow , making you sullen and irritable, causing your friends and loved ones to leave you one by one, thus completely ruining your life. Worse, revenge can't make up for anything you have lost - dead relatives can't Resurrection, the painful years will not be sweetened by the tragic death of the enemy, except for the moment of pleasure when the knife is pierced into the flesh, in the end, you will get nothing."

"Yesterday's two witnesses for the prosecution were also present. As relatives of the victim, are you trying to persuade them, who are also relatives of the victim, to give up the idea of ​​continuing the appeal?"

"Of course not," Tony replied, his back straightened like a drawn bow, "I totally understand how they feel because I feel the same way - even if it doesn't get me anything, even if it ruins me Myself, even if revenge will cost me nothing, I will still do it. This is my right, I have the right to make my enemy suffer for himself, and I have the right to repay him a hundred times and a thousand times the pain I have suffered—— Don't let anyone try to stop me."

"But now you are standing here, defending your enemy." Loki deliberately exchanged a puzzled look with the jury, "You have confused us, Mr. Stark, can I ask why? ?”

"Because I learned another secret," Tony raised his chin slightly, and moved his throat lightly, as if trying to forcefully swallow something stuck there, "During the assassination activities under the control of the KGB, the Winter Soldier once Woke up for a while and asked my father for help. Soviet agents found out and kidnapped me and forced my father to hand over the Winter Soldier, which he agreed to."

The commotion that had never stopped since Tony appeared on the witness stand has now turned into an uproar. People first looked at each other in shock at the blockbuster, and then began to whisper and discuss.

"Silence——" the judge struck the gavel vigorously, but Tony's gaze was obviously more effective than this. People quickly fell silent under his glance, eager to hear what he was about to say next:

"None of you can guess how angry and desperate I was at the moment when I learned the whole truth, because none of you have experienced this-suddenly deprived of all rights to revenge, from a victim to a It's so fucking ironic that the perpetrator was killed."

"The truth tormented me over and over, kept me up at night, and got me thinking about another question—whether the Winter Soldier has a right to revenge more than anyone else, not just against me, but against the name Stark, but To all of America? Because he is James Buchanan Barnes, who died for the freedom and democracy of this country in World War II, only to end up being the longest tortured prisoner of war in history because of government ignorance and desertion , and until now, those bastards are still trying to cover up the truth, try behind closed doors, and pretend they don't know anything about it, and you, the American people, you elected this government, and each of you deserves Barnes Sergeant's tragedy bears unshirkable responsibility."

"Objection," the plaintiff's lawyer immediately stood up, "There is no evidence that the defendant has ever been ignored and betrayed by the government. This is defamation."

"If the government hadn't turned its back on Barnes, they should have sent someone to search for him after he fell off the cliff, so that he wouldn't have been captured and tortured by the Soviets for 70 years." Tony said, picking up a stack of thick paper.

"My father is the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. As early as 1971, he applied to the government in the name of S.H.I.E.L.D. to start the 'Sergeant Rescue Project', but was flatly rejected by the high-level. Every year thereafter, he submitted One application, until he was assassinated by Hydra in 1991 - here is the full text of the 'Sargeant's Rescue Plan' and copies of 21 applications that show the government had advance knowledge of the Winter Soldier's situation."

"In addition, the video provided by Zemo is from the S.H.I.E.L.D. archives, which directly shows that the government knew the truth about the death of my parents, but still lied about the two deaths in a car accident-they lied to me and the whole world. The world, is it going to jump out and say 'I don't know anything'?"

His yells of rage echoed in the silent courtroom, silence, chilled by the sudden outburst of emotion, and Loki lowered his eyelids, dizzy with his lover's pain.

Tony took a deep breath, and turned the magma-like violent emotions in his body into bitter and cold sarcasm: "Everyone here must have watched the movie "Saving Private Ryan". But come back to reality, gentlemen, and see what comes of being a hero, and what education our children get out of it—let the puny ones die, don't be Heroes, don't stand up for them, because when you are in a desperate situation for them, no one will rescue you, they will abandon you, and let you rot in hell little by little."

"James Buchanan Barnes has the right to revenge on everyone, but he didn't. He chose to join the Avengers and continue to fight crime and protect the people. Captain America previously claimed that he was the 'best' he had ever seen." The American', I totally agree, it's his goodness and nobility that allows him to end hate the way James Barnes did, which happens to be the way Jesus Christ did too - love your enemies, go the extra mile, even fight life to protect your enemies."

As he spoke, he spread his hands and looked calmly at the entire jury and public gallery: "The above is why I am standing here today. I know that I am a jerk most of the time, but I really can't throw stones at such a person again. "

There was silence in the courtroom, with occasional low sobs.

Loki obviously knows how to control people's emotional rhythm. He paused for five or six seconds, and nodded to the judge after the sobbing gradually subsided: "My interrogation is over."

The prosecutor immediately got up.

"Mr. Stark," he grinned at Tony, trying to break the atmosphere of sadness that he had painstakingly created, "we must first make it clear that the focus of this trial is whether the defendant should be responsible for his past crimes, and you None of the statements just provided us with any helpful evidence, and no matter how much James Barnes has done in World War II, no matter whether the government knew what happened to him or not, it cannot affect the outcome of the trial."

"Everything you've done is just playing the emotional card, but here—" he pointed his index finger down at his feet, while proudly scanning the audience, "in the courts of the United States of America, legal principles are more important than human emotions, we can't just To sentence a person to death or to acquit a person because of sympathy, pity, or guilt, we must obey the law and the evidence."

"Well said, Mr. Lawyer," Mr. Stark smiled back, and even raised his hand to pretend to slap his hands twice, "but I have to add two more words, that is - in addition to obeying the law and obeying the evidence, We have to follow the facts and our own hearts. You know, logic and reason are not always useful, if everything is fine just relying on the legal provisions written in the books, why set up a jury?"

"You said I hadn't provided evidence to exonerate Sergeant Barnes, and that's true, because the facts are so clear that I don't really see the need to provide more evidence. You said I was playing the emotional card, which is also true. There is nothing wrong, because I want the public to understand that we are Iron Man, Captain America, and superheroes. We have abilities beyond ordinary people, can fight evil, and sanction crimes. But with all the aura removed, we are just a group of ordinary people , will grow old and die, will fail and make mistakes, will be afraid and sad, will be cowardly and withdraw."

"You have expectations of us, that superheroes should and must be better than most human beings, and that is understandable; but in turn, we expect of you. So here I am asking everyone, to give We have a little hope that we will not fight alone, let us have the confidence and courage to continue to protect the world. We really really don't want to be like James Barnes, to be regulated, used as an object, and finally To be thrown on the altar as a scapegoat, if being a superhero means losing the right to live freely, to be insulted, to be destroyed, and to be submissive, who would be willing to be a hero? When alien warships appear over the United States again Who would be willing to stand up at this time?"

"The Avengers want to make this world a better place, but we alone are not enough, so please help us, protect us when we are in trouble, and let us believe that this world is worth saving."