Chapter 29: Arc 1: Chapter 27: The First Blood

"We're very sorry..."

"Mr. Howard has given too much for the country his entire life..."

"We will do our utmost best to..."

"My condolences..."

In the dripping rain, Nick Fury, in a black suit to express condolences, looks at the luxurious mansion in front of him.

He could see the many vehicles parked outside the mansion, as well as the pale and weak young man wearing a white shirt, who's being helped by his butler.

It was Tony Stark.

The only son of Mr. Howard Stark and Mdm. Maria, the heir to Stark Industries, is a renowned genius, and an inhibited playboy.

But all titles aside, he was now just a 19-year-old young man who had lost both his parents.

"I thought Tony had a bad relationship with his father."

Fury whispers to himself:

"But he seems to be in pain, so the rumors aren't true then?"

"Howard was indeed not that good in handling his relationship with his son, he could be ingenuine towards everyone he meets; but only to his son, he becomes a stern father. Though, I do know Howard loved his son so much he was willing to give up anything."

Next to Fury, was a woman in a black skirt suit holding a cane.

On her suit was a white flower that symbolizes mourning. Behind her, a young girl holds an umbrella for her, she looked similar to the woman.

There were white strands in her black hair, her face no longer young, but one could still vaguely see the charm she once had. Her sharp eyes and cold temperament meant that she was a true person in power.

Her name was Peggy Carter, the girlfriend of the legendary Captain America Steve Rogers, who had gone missing for 46 years; she was also the current leader of the S.S.R.

Since World War 2, she has had the best agents in the world under her wing, protecting this North American country for decades after losing her loved one.

But in reality, Miss Carter was an Englishwoman from Great Britain.

"Howard is dead, killed by a despicable conspiracy. What's most embarrassing is that we have yet to find out who had planned all this."

Next to Miss Carter was a middle-aged man holding an umbrella.

He also had white hair, but he stood firmly like a real soldier; one could feel his sharp-as-blade cold temperament through his talking.

"Whoever they are, they were aiming for the Super Soldier serum Howard had replicated."

Agent Fury said:

"Unfortunately, all the serum..."

"We never should've restarted this program! Just as we never should've blindly replicated the Pim Particles, which caused a furious Hank to break away from us."

Light flickers in the eyes on Miss Carter's calm expression.

"We've made a mistake, and we paid the price for it. You lost a world-class scientist, and I lost my best friend. I hope this incident will make you think twice about your decisions..."

"Alright, I have to take care of my poor nephew now. Pierce, Fury, I'll leave clean up to you."

"Will do."

Second-in-command of the S.S.R. Alexander Pierce replied solemnly.

Seeing off Miss Carter and her niece into the Stark's mansion; Pierce takes a deep breath, he looks at his most trusted and most capable subordinate and asks:

"Fury, any discoveries?"

"Yes!"

Fury takes out two reports from his pocket and hands them to Pierce, he explains:

"Our agents found some unusual energy leftovers on the scene; after cross-examination, we noticed that it's related to a string of supernatural events I've been tracking down these few years. A mysterious young man codenamed 89084, we have no records of him in our archives, not even in the national population archive."

Fury purses his lips and continues:

"It's as if he appeared out of nowhere like a phantom."

"He caused an explosion in Chicago 2 years ago, then he saved 200 people in a train derailing accident in Central City, even had an encounter with a normal couple there too. He was last seen near Amnesty Bay a year ago, since then we've lost his tracks."

"He leaves energy leftovers wherever he goes, this time's no exception."

"It was clear, regardless of how Howard and Maria had died, or who had killed him, this young man was there...unfortunately we have not been able to find his trace, not even his blood. However, we did discover a second source of blood, cross-examination leads to an ex-Soviet ace assassin we've encountered in past missions."

"The Winter Soldier."

Fury's superior, senior agent Pierce looks at the sketch in his hands. He squints his eyes like an eagle that had found its prey and snap:

"Then find them! Find the two phantoms!"

"At any cost!"

Pierce looks at the mansion surrounded by sadness; he shakes his head and gets into his car, he tells Fury:

"Release an obituary."

"Today this nation has lost a great man. Such a shame."

---

Merlin walks through the streets of Hell's Kitchen in his usual attire, only this time he wore an aged coat and dragged a suitcase. He notices that many people had sad expressions as he walked by, it would seem that something had happened.

He goes to his usual newspaper stand and buys some food and water, as well as a newspaper. The headlines of the newspaper made Merlin's eyes go wide.

The headlines read:

"The Fall of A Giant: Howard & Maria dies in a car crash, the nation mourns for their loss."

Beneath the title was a black and white picture, on it was a serious-looking yet demeanor, middle-aged man; although he had never heard of this name before, he recognized him as the elderly man who died in his arms yesterday. 

Below the newspaper cover was a brief introduction of Howard Stark's fantastic life.

To be honest, this was not his first encounter with Stark Industries; last year when he and Bruce were in exile, they had lived on a Stark Industries freight for some time, even saving a few people then.

As he walks forward, he reads the newspaper at hand; as he reads, he realizes how much of a big shot the couple for the previous night was.

Howard Stark's family had a long history, they were said to be one of the first Puritans to arrive in North America.

Howard was a true genius, he researched and manufactured many important pieces of machinery that had appeared in WWI and WWII, which made his family high profits.

The Stark family was one of the richest families in North America; even Howard Stark himself was an admired idol to many youngsters.

He was handsome, chic, and wealthy; he was once a famous playboy, but once he met his true love Mdm. Maria, Howard became the perfect husband in the eyes of many females.

He was an outstanding entrepreneur, a philanthropist, a successful arms dealer, a playboy, an idealist, as well as a realist. One can say that his entire life was a legendary one.

Of course, his most notable feat was developing the world-renowned Super-Soldier serum with the help of Dr. Abraham Erskine of the US Department of Defense, which made Steve Rogers the first Super-Soldier in history, as well as the most legendary hero of WWII.

But just as the experiment succeeded, Dr. Abraham Erskine was assassinated by N**i agents, and the formula to the serum was lost forever.

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Some rumors state that Howard Stark also has the serum formula in possession, yet he wasn't allowed to reveal it due to a government ban.

All this was unimportant to Merlin; to him, the most important reward was knowing who Mr. Howard had asked him to look for before his death.

"Tony Stark, the only child of Howard Stark."

Merlin squints his eyes and memorizes the address, he then places the newspaper down next to a homeless person. He looks up and sees the police officers in front of the station, they seem to be looking for someone.

Merlin presses his cap and turns around, dragging his suitcase into the crowd.

He's going to leave this city as it is now unsafe.

Merlin kept Mr. Howard's warning to him before his passing in his heart, last night's experience made it clear that it was no mere accident, and that the Howard couple were being chased.

What's worse, is that he's already entangled in it, and he too was being chased.

Killing someone as important as Howard Stark as easily as they did, Merlin dared not think he could hide from the assailants.

Past experiences have taught Merlin to prepare for the worst when it depends on his luck.

However, he still has one last thing to do before leaving.

After all, a promise is a promise.

---

Tony Stark sits alone in the living room.

The 19-year-old had never been more haggard, he wore red pajamas and held the photo frame of his parents in his hand; he looked not like a genius and more like a person driven into autism by great stimulation.

His parents were gone.

They were gone without a warning; unspeakable sorrow fills his heart.

"Young Master, you have to eat something."

The elderly butler Jarvis places a tray of dinner in front of Tony, he looked at him as if he were his own son, he knew not how to console the grieving young man.

Jarvis had been Howard's butler ever since he was young, he served the Stark family for decades, so long that he had become a part of the family.

He couldn't console Tony, as the death of his best friend Howard is also affecting him.

"Mr. Obadiah Stane is waiting for you, he's your fathers' business partner, CEO of Stark Industries, as well as the second-largest shareholder to the company."

Jarvis tells Tony:

"He has many things to hand over to you, the inheritance your father left you, a few estates, and many..."

"I don't want to go! Let him wait!"

Tony grits his teeth:

"Let me be quiet, Jarvis, please, leave me alone."

The sudden emotional outburst surprises the elderly butler; he sighs and turns around.

"As you wish. But it's best you eat something."

Jarvis leaves the room and closes the door behind him, giving Tony some space. The young man holds the photo frame and closes his eyes, his relationship with his father was not good, tense even.

Yet he never could've guessed the impact of the sudden passing of that stern middle-aged man to be this much.

He loved him, it's just that he didn't realize it, he had always been quarreling with his father.

And now, he lost them, lost them forever, when he was most vulnerable.

"You should eat something."

A voice suddenly appears in front of the young man, causing him to open his eyes.

He sees a stranger in a coat wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses standing on the other side of the table like a phantom.

"Who are you!"

Tony stands up and screamed:

"How did you get in?"

"That is unimportant."

Merlin looks at Tony, the young man in front of him had Howard's eyes, as well as the same temperament his father had.

He keeps both hands in his pockets and speaks in a low voice:

"I'm not here to harm you, it's just that Mr. Howard asked me to tell you something, Tony. Your father died in my arms, I'm sorry; I tried to save them, but I couldn't."

"What do you mean?"

Tony was a true genius, he had inherited his father's amazing intellect; thus he understood the meaning behind Merlin's words, he stared at Merlin:

"Are you saying that it wasn't just an accident?"

"Do you think someone like your father would die in a normal car accident?"

Merlin's rhetorical question made Tony speechless.

He had a hunch when the news of his parent's death came, as he had always admired the wisdom his father had.

How would a legendary figure like his father die in a regular car accident?

Merlin's appearance confirms his hunch.

There was something else to it, his father didn't die to an accident; instead, he died to...

Murder!

"Who killed him?"

Tony questioned angrily, Merlin looked into his hateful eyes and shook his head, he says:

"I don't know, what I do know is that your father asked me to tell you..."

"That they love you very much."

Finishing his words, Merlin vanishes through the shadows; everything was gone, there were no footsteps, no breathing, not even heartbeat, as if he never appeared in the first place.

"No! Come back! Come back!"

Tony shouted in the living room like a madman:

"You haven't told me! Who killed my parents!"

"Come out! Come out! Tell me! TELL ME!!!"

 

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