"Marcus, are you okay?" Howard watched the fight unfold and called out with concern.
"I'm fine! You and Maria stay in the car for now. I'll handle this!"
With those words, Marcus leaped into action. Energy surged beneath his feet as he launched a powerful kick toward his opponent.
Facing the attack, the man responded quickly, raising his metal arm to block. After a dull thud, Marcus's kick sent the guy flying backward, his metal arm visibly deformed from the impact.
"I think I know exactly who you are!"
Marcus understood clearly that in the original timeline, Howard and Maria died in a staged car accident. Their murderer was Captain America's friend Bucky, who had been transformed into the Winter Soldier by Hydra.
Because Howard had retired earlier than in the original timeline, Marcus had thought this attack might never happen. He hadn't expected Hydra to still make their move.
In a flash, Marcus appeared in front of Bucky, grabbed him by the collar with one hand and hoisted him up.
"Come to think of it, your buddy Steve seems to still be frozen somewhere!"
Wham!
Marcus delivered a kick to Bucky's body that tore his clothes to shreds and sent him crashing violently into his motorcycle, knocking the bike far away.
Hearing Marcus's words, fragmented images suddenly flashed through Bucky's mind, triggering an intense headache.
"AAAHHH!!!"
Mad with pain, Bucky charged toward Marcus with a roar.
Thud!
Seeing Bucky rushing at him, Marcus kicked him down again and stomped hard on his metal arm.
Crack!
Bucky's metal limb twisted under Marcus's foot as void energy surrounded it, causing electrical sparks to burst from the damaged components.
"Hmm? Looks like we have more guests." A rustling sound from the forest caught Marcus's attention. He leaned down and placed his hand on Bucky's head. "Would you mind taking a little nap first?"
Void energy flowed from his fingertips into Bucky's brain. The Winter Soldier, already disoriented, suddenly had a flood of memories rushing through his mind. The overwhelming headache knocked him unconscious.
Marcus sat on the ground using Bucky as a makeshift chair, listening to the rustling in the bushes.
"Don't hide there like rats!"
As he spoke, the Rex pistol in his right hand flashed with fire as he fired a bullet into the bushes.
"Argh!!!"
With pained screams, several figures hiding in the bushes stood up one after another, raising their guns and aiming at Marcus.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and the screaming man fell silent.
"Oh?" Marcus raised an eyebrow and looked at the man who'd fired. "Decisive and ruthless. I like it!"
Though these guys were all wearing masks, their equipment was clearly sophisticated. They were obviously elite soldiers.
The man who had fired slowly raised his hand, and when he brought it down, all the soldiers pulled their triggers simultaneously. Bullets flew toward Marcus like a metal storm.
"Ha~" Marcus smiled as his figure instantly vanished from the path of the incoming bullets. The next moment, he appeared directly in front of their leader. "Looks like there's nothing to talk about!"
Bang!
With the explosive sound of the Rex firing, Marcus began his counterattack.
The amplification-enhanced Rex pistols had devastating destructive power. Though they were just handguns, they now rivaled heavy anti-material weapons.
Each shot claimed the lives of one or even several soldiers at once. The powerful impacts tore through their bodies.
Soon, all the soldiers lay in pools of blood, none with an intact body.
Marcus stood calmly among the fallen, shaking his head.
"Wouldn't it be better to live as ordinary people? Why work for scum like Hydra?"
Marcus knew exactly who these men were. Only Hydra could dispatch the Winter Soldier with such an elite force.
But Marcus never truly understood Hydra's thinking. They already controlled most of the power in the country, yet they still caused destruction everywhere, as if they wanted everyone to know Hydra still existed.
After walking past each body and confirming they were all dead, Marcus returned to the car. Howard had already stepped out to check on Bucky's condition.
"I know him!" Howard pointed at Bucky's face. "His name is Bucky. He was part of the original Howling Commandos and a friend to both Steve and me. But he's supposed to be dead—he died during a mission!"
"Well, so what? I've fought aliens before. You think I'd be surprised by some guy who was supposedly dead?" Marcus looked at him with amusement. "Besides, don't you find that metal arm interesting?"
That caught Howard's attention. Although the metal arm was twisted and deformed by Marcus, its design was undeniably impressive.
Stark Industries had developed purely mechanical prosthetics before, but even they would struggle to manufacture something this sophisticated.
While Howard became absorbed in examining the metal arm, Marcus returned to the car.
"Maria, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," Maria smiled gently. "Though I suppose our Bahamas trip will have to end before it begins."
After experiencing an attack of this magnitude, Maria understood perfectly well that if they continued with their travel plans, they would no longer be safe.
Even with Marcus accompanying them as protection, they couldn't ignore such a dangerous situation.
"That is unfortunate news indeed," Marcus agreed with a smile as he picked up the phone from the car.
"Happy?" Hearing the voice on the other end, Marcus said, "Put Tony on the phone."
Marcus's serious tone made Happy realize something was wrong. Usually, Marcus would joke around when calling Tony, but this time he'd used his actual name.
Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Happy quickly handed the phone to Stark.
"Call your medical staff and rescue team. We've been attacked."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a terrified shout came through the phone: "Attacked?! How are they? Are they hurt?!"
The voice was so loud it could be heard without the speakerphone, making Maria smile and shake her head as she took the phone from Marcus.
"Tony, we're all fine! Marcus dealt with all the attackers, but our car is damaged."
Maria's voice clearly calmed Tony down, and his tone gradually steadied.
"Thank god you're okay. Stay where you are—I'll be there soon!" Stark still sounded anxious.
After hanging up, Marcus went back to Howard.
"Old man, please get back in the car! I can't guarantee your safety out here. If you really want to study this guy, you can continue after we get back."
With that, he carried Bucky to the car. Marcus remained curious about the Winter Soldier's mission. After all, in the original timeline, this man had not only killed Howard and his wife but also taken something from their car.
After ushering Howard back to safety, Marcus gently pressed his fingertips against Bucky's forehead, channeling void energy to access the man's memories.
He'd been right—Bucky did have another objective. Besides killing Howard and Maria, he had orders to seize Howard's super soldier serum.
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