Chapter 190 - The Death of Howard Stark

Chapter 190: Chapter 190 - The Death of Howard Stark

"Your parents were caught in a road accident and died. Only you survived. Since they had no relatives who could take you in, you ended up in the orphanage. Your mother was British, and your father, James Walker, was an American mechanic. It happened only five months ago."

Hearing this, Gwen gave baby Jack to Alice before hugging Jack. He looked disappointed as he listened to the truth about his parents.

"Don’t worry. Aren’t we all here for you now?" Gwen said.

"I’m disappointed. I thought there would be some hidden story behind my parents’ deaths. Maybe they had some secret identity or something. But no... they were just ordinary people," Jack said with a strange smile. Although he joked about it, he was still sad about their deaths.

I guess I was expecting too much. After being reincarnated, I thought there might be some special secret behind my original family too. Turns out, they were just ordinary people.

"They don’t have any hidden identity, but... your mother was a relative of Peggy Carter. If you’re looking for something special, that would be it," Alice said.

"That Peggy Carter? That one?" Jack asked, wanting to make sure he had heard correctly.

"Yes. The one you’re thinking of. The lover of Captain America. Legally, she could have been your guardian, but since I knew you didn’t want to change history, I hid your connection to her. Otherwise, you would have ended up in England."

"Hmm. This should follow history, but I never expected that I would have a distant blood relative connected to Peggy Carter. That means Sharon Carter would be a relative too." Jack found the situation interesting, almost like something from a novel, but he had no intention of revealing their connection or trying to change anything.

After spending some time playing with little Jack, they decided to visit his parents’ grave.

"Jack, do you believe ghosts are real?" Gwen asked nervously as they placed flowers on the tomb. The entire graveyard was dark and quiet, making the place feel rather creepy.

"I believe they exist!" Jack answered without thinking for even a second. If someone had asked him the same question in his previous life, he wouldn’t have been completely sure. But after coming to the Marvel world, he had no doubt that ghosts existed.

"Since even time travel and magic are possible, ghosts should be real too. But ghosts would be an interesting research topic," Alice said as she looked around, almost as if she was trying to find one.

Just as they were leaving the graveyard, Jack received some news about Howard Stark and his wife.

They were driving from New York toward Long Island without any bodyguards.

Jack immediately realized what was about to happen. Howard would soon be attacked by the Winter Soldier, Bucky. Even though he could leave the rescue to the other Plumbers, Jack and Gwen decided to handle it themselves.

Jack transformed into XLR8 and took Gwen with him.

New York to Long Island Road

A car was driving along a mountain road at night. Inside, a couple sat quietly together as Howard kept his eyes on the road and Maria sat beside him.

"You should stop worrying about Tony so much," Maria said.

Howard glanced at her. "I’m not worried about him."

Maria gave him a look.

"Howard, you’re his father. I know you want him to be like you, but Tony is still young. He needs your support, not just your expectations."

Howard sighed. "I’m trying to prepare him for the future."

"Then spend more time with him," Maria replied. "You don’t always have to teach him something. Sometimes he just needs his father."

Howard remained quiet for a moment.

"You think I’m too hard on him?"

"Sometimes," Maria said. "But I know you love him. Tony knows that too, even if he doesn’t always show it."

Howard smiled slightly. "He’s going to be a handful."

"He gets that from you."

Howard laughed softly. "I was going to say the same thing about you."

Maria smiled and leaned back in her seat. "Just promise me you’ll give Tony a little more time."

Howard nodded. "I will."

Maria looked at him for a moment before turning toward the window.

"Good. That’s all I wanted."

Howard continued driving, unaware of the motorcycle following them in the distance. He noticed it in the rearview mirror, but at first, he didn’t think much of it. However, as the motorcycle got closer, the rider suddenly pulled out a gun and fired at the car.

Bang!

The bullet hit one of the tires.

BANG!

The tire burst, and Howard immediately lost control of the car. He desperately tried to steer it back onto the road, but the car swerved violently before crashing into a nearby tree.

CRASH!

The impact shook the entire car. Howard’s head struck the side of the vehicle, while Maria was thrown against her seat. Both of them were badly injured and struggled to move after the crash.

Howard slowly opened his eyes. Everything around him was blurry, and pain filled his entire body. He turned his head toward Maria and saw that she was still conscious, but she didn’t even have enough strength to speak.

"Maria..." Howard struggled to speak. "Are you okay?"

Maria slowly opened her eyes and looked toward him, but she couldn’t answer.

Howard tried to move, but pain immediately shot through his body. Then he heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching again. His blurry vision slowly focused enough for him to realize that the killer had returned.

He came back...

The back door of the car suddenly opened, and the killer stepped out with the Super Soldier Serum.

So that’s what he wanted... The serum.

Howard gritted his teeth and forced himself out of the car. He barely managed to take a few steps before his injured leg gave way, causing him to fall onto the road.

He tried to push himself back up, but his vision became even more blurred.

A figure approached him.

Howard slowly looked up.

"Sergeant Bucky...?" he asked, his voice filled with confusion.

Bucky didn’t answer. He simply walked toward Howard and raised his metal arm.

Howard could barely move.

Bucky punched him hard, sending him crashing to the ground. Howard lost consciousness immediately.

Just as Bucky was about to attack him again, a blur suddenly flashed across the road.

BOOM!

Something kicked Bucky away, sending him flying several meters before he crashed onto the ground.

Bucky quickly got back up and looked around. His eyes immediately locked onto the strange lizard-like creature standing nearby. A girl was standing beside him.

Bucky didn’t hesitate. He immediately pulled out his gun and fired.

The bullets flew toward them, but Gwen’s nanotech suit spread across her body in an instant, forming around her as she moved out of the bullets’ path.

"I’ll take care of him!" Gwen said as she stepped forward.

Jack glanced toward Howard and Maria.

Both of them were unconscious now.

Then he noticed smoke coming from the damaged car. Flames were beginning to spread from the engine.

I need to get them away from here.

Jack immediately grabbed Howard and Maria and moved them away from the burning vehicle, carrying them toward a safer spot on the side of the road.

Behind him, Gwen had already engaged Bucky.

Bucky rushed toward her and swung his metal arm. Gwen’s spider-sense warned her just before the attack reached her, allowing her to duck underneath his fist. She immediately fired webs at his arm and pulled herself closer before using his momentum against him.

Bucky tried to grab her, but Gwen quickly moved around him. Her nanotech suit formed mechanical spider legs from her back, and one of them struck Bucky from the side, forcing him to stumble.

Bucky recovered quickly and attacked again. Gwen avoided his metal arm and moved around him, using her spider-sense to predict each attack. She fired webs at his legs, but Bucky tore through them and charged toward her again.

Gwen jumped over him, using the mechanical spider legs to push herself off the ground and change direction in midair. Before Bucky could turn around, several webs wrapped around his arms and legs.

He struggled and broke some of them, but Gwen didn’t give him enough time to recover. She fired more webs, pinning his metal arm against his body before kicking him hard in the chest.

Bucky fell to the ground.

Gwen landed a few meters away and immediately fired another web, wrapping his legs and pulling them together. Bucky tried to get back up, but Gwen’s mechanical spider legs pushed him back down.

Within less than a minute, the Winter Soldier was completely restrained.

Gwen looked toward Jack.

"You were better than before," Jack commented.

Gwen looked at him. "Of course."

Jack smiled before transforming back into his human form.

A few moments later, the sound of an approaching spacecraft could be heard in the sky.

Jack looked upward as a Plumber spaceship descended toward them and landed nearby.

Alice stepped out of the ship with a few Plumbers. Seeing them arrive, Jack immediately pointed toward Howard and Maria.

"Take both of them and get them treatment."

The Plumbers quickly moved toward the unconscious couple.

Jack then looked at Alice.

"Make the scene look like an accident without leaving any clues. And fix the scene of our fight too."

Alice nodded.

She took out a capsule and threw it to the side. The capsule opened, revealing a box containing two bodies.

Jack looked at them.

They were exact copies of Howard and Maria.

They were clone bodies created from their DNA, without any consciousness and with only a limited lifespan. Once they were taken outside of the container, their organs would begin to fail and their bodies would eventually die.

Jack had planned this beforehand and had ordered Alice to collect their DNA and prepare the bodies in case something like this happened.

While Alice and the other Plumbers began working to make the scene look like a normal accident and erase all evidence, such as the camera footage, Gwen looked toward Bucky.

"What are we going to do with him?"

Jack looked at the unconscious Winter Soldier.

He hadn’t planned to take Bucky with them. If Bucky suddenly disappeared, Hydra would become suspicious and that could create unnecessary problems. Instead, Jack took out the memory eraser.

He used it on Bucky, changing his memories so that he believed he had successfully completed his mission.

After making sure Bucky’s memories were altered, Jack moved him away from the scene and left him there.

With everything prepared, Jack, Gwen, Alice, and the Plumbers left the area in their spaceship, leaving behind a scene that would appear to be nothing more than a tragic accident.

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