The Manhattan Federal Court House:
The judge tells attorney Matt Murdock to call his first witness. He calls Colonel Carol Danvers. He asks her to recall the events of June 19th of this year.
Carol explains she was part of a consortium of superheroes that travelled to a location outside of Alpine, Utah. For what purpose? Murdock asks. To confront Doctor Bruce Banner, is the reply.
Carol’s narration:
Captain Marvel steps into the lab and asks Bruce Banner what he is working on. Somewhat unsure, he asks what she is doing here, in this secret lab nobody is supposed to know about. She repeats her question and tells him to answer first. Some genetic calculations. And he doesn’t mean to be rude or condescending, but he doesn’t know if she would understand the specifics. Is it gamma-related? she asks. Is something wrong? he worries. Answer the question, comes from Tony Stark, who also enters the room.
Now Bruce is even more taken aback. He reminds them he hasn’t had a Hulk incident in almost a year. Both just stare at him. Oh no, he states. Has he? Tony suggests they talk about his outside. Bruce notes he is wearing no armor. That was the deal, Tony replies. The deal? Bruce repeats. Why? What’s outside? Tony puts his hand on Bruce’s shoulder and asks him to stay calm. He assures him he believes in him.
Outside, a ton of heroes are waiting, as well as several SHIELD air vessels. What did he do? Bruce exclaims. Tony assures him he hasn’t done anything.
Yet, Medusa, queen of the Inhumans adds.
Present:
Matt Murdock calls Tony Stark and asks what Banner’s reaction was. Anger? Total bafflement, Tony replies.
Flashback:
He doesn’t understand, Bruce announces. Carol explains there’s a young Inhuman here. “Say hi, Ulysses.” No thanks, Ulysses stammers from the protection of the Royal Inhumans.
He sees visions of the future, Carol continues. A possible future, Tony corrects. Ms. Marvel, Nova and Spider-Man add that Ulysses doesn’t just see but experiences them and let them all experience a particular one. One of him, Tony tells Bruce.
Present:
Murdock asks how Bruce took the news.
Flashback:
Bruce asks if Tony experienced the vision as well. Tony unwillingly admits it. How bad? All the way bad, Tony replies. He sees what’s going on here.
Present:
Carol relates how she explained to Bruce that every other vision of Ulysses so far had come true, or more to the point, they had been able to stop them before they came true. The visions were more or less correct. But not everyone agreed, did they? Matt asks.
Flashback:
Tony continues they have a bit of a moral dilemma on their hands. Wait for him to “Hulk out” or stop him before it happens, Bruce realizes.
Present:
Tony goes on, he told Bruce they had made a deal with each other…
Flashback:
Carol explains that she and Tony disagree. Tony says the future isn’t the future unless it happens. And the rest of them are here to put him away? Bruce asks agitated. Put him down? No, Carol replies. Tony adds, they are split. They need proof. What kind of proof? Bruce asks.
That moment, Beast joins them. He has hacked into Bruce’s files and grimly announces it’s true. He’s experimenting on himself. He stole his work? Bruce demands. Beast retorts, Bruce is treating himself with dead gamma cells. The others become nervous. Carol and Tony are in disbelief. Bruce explains his new work has kept the Hulk away.
Maria Hill steps up, announcing they have to arrest him. She’s begging him to come quietly. Thor tells him not to make this difficult. He hasn’t turned into the Hulk in almost a year because of his experiments! Bruce shouts. Tony asks him to calm down. And they all come to his home and think—
Suddenly an arrow hits Bruce in the chest.
Present:
What happened next? Murdock asks. All hell broke loose, Carol replies.
Flashback:
Carol orders Thor toward the trees where the arrow came from. Falcon and Spider-Man follow. Tony shouts at Carol he came her to prevent something like this! He was his friend!
In the trees, Thor asks simply why. The perpetrator stretches out his arms, signifying he expects to be handcuffed.
Present:
Murdock asks Carol to point to the man and identify him. Carol points at the accused: Clint Barton aka Hawkeye.
Flashback:
What the hell was that?! Carol shouts at Hawkeye. Maria Hill interjects this is an official federal crime scene. Captain America presses for answers. He orders Clint to look at him. He obeys, tears in his eyes. Why? Cap asks.
Present:
Because Bruce Banner asked him to, Clint Barton reveals.
Following the trial on TV, Miles Morales (the younger Spider-Man) and his best friend Ganke are surprised.
Hawkeye’s narration:
Doctor Banner came to him months ago, out of the blue. He explained it had been almost a year since he last turned into the Hulk. That’s fantastic, Clint enthused. Bruce closed his eyes and shoved a small box across the table. Is he proposing? Clint joked. Inside the box was a small arrowhead. What will it do? Clint asked. Kill him, Bruce replied. If he ever hulks out again, he wants Hawkeye to use that.
Clint refused. Bruce calmly ordered him to. Why him? Hawkeye finally asked. Because he is one of the few people he knows who eventually will be able to live with the choice, Bruce replied.
Clint found that weirdly insulting. Bruce assured him it wasn’t meant to be. He was trusting him with his life. Clint pointed out that maybe Bruce would not revert again. Bruce replied he dreams of him. He dreams of rage. He wakes up with the taste of blood in his mouth. He wakes up and isn’t sure, if it happened or not. Sometimes he has to turn on the news to make sure. And they all know he’ll wake up one day and it won’t be a dream. And if that happens, they know he has tried everything and nothing worked. He needs Clint to promise him he’ll stop him, once and for all.
Present:
There is a commotion and the judge demands order. Clint explains that, if there was a chance that he’d turn back into the Hulk, Bruce wanted him to put him down.
Matt Murdock asks if anyone else was present at the meeting and is told it was only the two of them. He coldly points out Clint’s only witness is the man he murdered and he has a spotty past. Clint calmly agrees. So he expects them to take him at his word despite his criminal past? Matt continues. Clint announces he hopes his more recent past of working for the common good of this country and the world would cancel out the sins of his youth.
Heroes, including the X-Men, watch the proceedings on TV as the defense calls their witness Dr. Henry McCoy aka the Beast.
Henry explains that the custom arrow used to kill Bruce Banner was according to notes on Banner’s own server his own invention. He shows an excerpt of Banner’s video diary supporting Hawkeye’s claims.
Murdock points out that Bruce didn’t hulk out. He was about to! Clint shouts. No one saw that but him! Matt points out. Tony remarks he was standing right there. He didn’t see the Hulk; he saw a man betrayed by his peers.
Clint explains that his eyesight is more acute. It’s why he’s such a good shot, and Banner chose him. Banner was agitated. His eyes flickered green. The vision was going to come true.
On the witness stand, Carol states that she is sure what happened saved many lives and fulfilled Banner’s own wishes. She didn’t know Barton was going to do this but she knows in her heart lives were saved because of it.
Miles Morales watches the trial on Times Square. Carol’s fellow Ultimates in their headquarters.
Murdock asks Carol if she’s been using the young Inhuman’s powers since Banner’s death. Yes, she agrees, to great success. He asks her to define “great success.” Thanks to the Inhuman, they stopped over a dozen incidents before they happened. He’ll forgive her for not going into detail. Some of these affairs are a matter of national security. Some are ongoing investigations.
Were any of these predictions found to be false? Murdock presses. Carol denies this. Any chance any of these visions create another situation like this one? Carol denies that as well. He clarifies if there were any other fatalities, which she denies.
Tony Stark on the stand states he knows he is not here to testify Hawkeye killed Banner. He admits it. But his friend was murdered. Hawkeye killed a hero. A founding member of the Avengers was assassinated on his own front lawn.
Matt replies he knows Tony is emotional, but let’s stick to the questions— Tony interrupts, he isn’t asking the right questions. This is not what they are supposed to be doing.
Flashback:
Black Panther and Vision are holding back Tony as he rages they are supposed to be guarding. They are supposed to be protecting, defending, avenging! What was this? Accountability! Carol shouts back. They look at the SHIELD agents carrying Banner’s body. She made this happen! Tony accuses Carol. She chased this. She couldn’t let things lie and now another of them is gone! Who’s next on her hit list? She looks at him silently and hurt.
She tells Medusa to get Ulysses out of here. Medusa agrees and has Lockjaw teleport them away. Tony rages this is not her call!
The youngest Avengers, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man and Nova are confused. What do they do? Ms. Marvel asks Nova and Spider-Man decides they are with Iron Man on this.
Carol tells Tony to let SHIELD handle this. He rages that Hawkeye can’t come back from this. He murdered an Avenger! They are going to bury him for this! And then they are going to come back and bury her for forcing his hand!
Present:
The jury has returned and hands the verdict to the judge.
Tony Stark sits in his lab brooding. His assistant Mary Jane Watson joins him and asks if he doesn’t want to hear the verdict. He knows the verdict, he boasts. He is a genius futurist. He can’t help it.
MJ asks if he doesn’t want to see it, in case he isn’t as smart as he thinks he is. Or would he like to find out how this new Inhuman’s power to “see” the future works, the artificial intelligence Friday asks. He tells her not to mess with him. She assures him she isn’t. She isn’t finished with the calculations but she thinks she knows how the visions work.
Oh My God! Tony exclaims when he sees it. MJ asks what it is. Their future, he replies darkly.
