Chapter 37: Howard
2023-05-02 Author: Yue Shang Xintou
"It seems you recognize me?"
Noticing the astonishment on Colin's face, Howard's brow, hidden in the shadows, twitched slightly.
"I once saw a report about you in the newspaper. A report about your death," Colin answered honestly.
Howard fell silent for a moment upon hearing this.
Then, as if he'd noticed something, he turned his head. "We can talk about the report later. The most important thing right now is... helping you take care of this trouble."
As he spoke, under Colin's watchful gaze, Howard raised his arm and aimed it out the window.
With a low hum, an Arc Repulsor Blast shot from his palm, blasting away the Ultron that had, at some point, found its way outside the window.
In the light of the blast, Colin finally saw Howard's figure, previously concealed in the shadows.
Extending from his arm, Howard's body, exposed from beneath his windbreaker, bore clear marks of cybernetic modification. Even a small part of his face had been replaced by machinery. A silver-white mechanical eye was embedded in his eye socket, glowing with a faint blue light.
"Clint, I'll leave it to you."
"No problem."
After blasting the pursuing Ultron away, Howard, standing at the window, did not press his advantage. Instead, he spoke in a low voice.
"I've been hesitating about how to tell Adeline the news of Jacques's death..."
In a taxi parked by the apartment building's curb, a man holding a bow and arrow turned his head to speak to Nick Fury in the driver's seat. "Adeline was always unhappy about Jacques joining our operations. She even argued with him about it more than once."
From the driver's seat, Nick replied slowly in a deep voice, "At least you can tell her he was a hero, a true hero."
"Who knows?"
In response to Nick's words, Clint, or rather Hawkeye, stated expressionlessly.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—
As he spoke, his right hand moved in a blur, loosing three specialized arrows in the blink of an eye.
In mid-air, having been struck by Howard's Arc Repulsor Blast.
"Warning, warning..."
Broken parts fell in droves from Ultron's body. Controlling its battered mechanical frame to maintain a flying posture, it spoke intermittently in a distorted voice, "...Target detected... locking on... scanning data... base... target identified... Da... Dark Avengers... extremely dangerous..."
However, before Ultron could launch a counterattack, several arrows flew accurately from a distance and embedded themselves in its body. In the next instant, with a violent explosion, Ultron's body was blown into several pieces, falling to the ground in flames.
"So, what's your decision? Will you stay here and wait for more robots to come knocking? Or will you leave with us, Mr. Colin Roper?"
Withdrawing his gaze, Howard turned to look at Colin and asked.
"Do I have a choice?"
Colin glanced at the large hole Howard had blasted in the room and replied helplessly.
He certainly didn't have enough money to compensate the landlord.
...
Following Howard downstairs, the explosion from the fight had attracted a crowd of curious residents.
The two of them blended into the flow of people, so they didn't seem out of place.
Weaving through the crowd of onlookers, Howard led Colin to a stop in front of a taxi.
The window rolled down, revealing a familiar face in the driver's seat.
"We meet again, customer."
Inside the taxi, Nick Fury greeted Colin.
Looking at Nick in the car, then at Howard in front of him, Colin couldn't help but ask suspiciously, "How long have you been following me?"
Given the circumstances, Colin couldn't help but be suspicious. After all, their appearance was far too coincidental.
Faced with Colin's question, Howard's gaze met Nick's inside the car. The latter shrugged and shook his head in denial.
"In fact, our target wasn't you, but Hydra..."
"Hydra?!"
Hearing the name come from Howard's mouth, Colin couldn't help but repeat it.
"Hard to believe, isn't it? That the robot that attacked you was actually created and controlled by Hydra."
No, I'm not surprised by that at all.
If there was anyone in the world with the deepest prejudice against Hydra, it would undoubtedly be Colin. After all, in his mind, Hydra was a thoroughly evil organization. He wouldn't be surprised by anything such an entity was capable of doing.
"Sorry, but now's not a good time to chat..."
Hawkeye poked his head out of the taxi and reminded the two men outside.
Hearing Clint's reminder, Colin had to suppress the questions in his heart and got into the taxi with Howard.
[Contact with a Twisted Time Node. Collected a small number of Time Shards x5]
[Contact with a Twisted Time Node. Collected a small number of Time Shards x2]
As soon as he got into the car, two lines of faint text flashed before Colin's eyes.
As expected, his contact with Howard and the others had also allowed him to obtain [Time Shards].
But, five [Time Shards]?
His gaze fell upon the shard representing [Time Shard (Howard Stark)], and a glint flashed in Colin's eyes.
This was the largest number of [Time Shards] Colin had ever obtained from a target to date.
Did this mean that the [Twisted Time Node] on Howard was the most special or severe? After all, in Colin's understanding and the history he was familiar with, Howard had met an untimely death in an accident long ago. And yet, right now, this person who should have been dead in Colin's memory was sitting alive and well right beside him.
For a being who had come back from the dead, the [Twisted Time Node] on his body was naturally extraordinary.
With this thought, Colin looked at the few [Time Shards (Howard Stark)].
Beneath their shattered glass-like exterior, he could almost see Howard's figure flickering within.
As he stared, Colin's vision began to blur, and countless specks of Green Light started to float around.
Amidst the flickering Green Light, he seemed to see the figure of Howard Stark, driving a car, laughing and chatting. In the next second, with a flash of light, the car suddenly spun out of control. A terrified Howard wrestled with the steering wheel as the car slammed violently into a utility pole on the side.
Under the violent impact, the car flipped over on the roadside. Then, amidst the flashing Green Light, Colin vaguely saw a blurry figure appear next to the overturned car and drag Howard out. Colin's eyes widened, trying to see the figure's face clearly. However, the flickering Green Light was like a layer of hazy mist, obscuring the person's features and preventing him from seeing anything clearly.
(end of chapter)