2069 Helping a Friend
As Howard Stark's only child, Tony had naturally gone to the scene.
In the end, both the FBI and the police department concluded that it had been an accident.
At that time, Tony had only been in his early twenties. He had been obsessed with racing cars and messing around with tech and girls every day, and wasn't as experienced as he was now.
He had been depressed for months after his parents died.
But the moment he understood that this video was from the scene of his parents' car crash, the tycoon knew that something was definitely wrong.
That was because he clearly remembered from the investigation report that there had been no surveillance cameras or eyewitnesses at the scene.
Then, where did this video come from?
Suddenly, a motorcycle appeared on the screen and stopped.
The man on the motorbike got off and walked over to Howard Stark, who had rolled out of the car. He picked him up and punched him in the face.
Howard's body went limp, and the man stuffed him back into the driver's seat.
Then, the man went to the passenger seat and stretched out his hand.
After everything was done, he looked around and was about to return to the motorbike.
At that moment, the video paused.
The man's face was especially clear in the video.
Just like how Tony had recognized his father earlier, Steve recognized the man the moment he saw him.
The face on the screen put an end to any possible doubts.
The man who had killed Tony's parents was none other than Bucky.
Tony slowly turned his head and looked at Bucky.
His chest heaved and his body trembled slightly. He suddenly raised his fist and was about to attack.
Steve grabbed him. "Wait, Tony."
Tony's heart sank. He slowly turned around and looked at his old comrade. "You knew?"
Steve hesitated, but could only answer honestly, "Yes."
Hearing the answer, Tony nodded with an expression like he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He then turned around and fired a palm cannon at Bucky.
Bucky reacted quickly and raised his left arm to block the palm cannon, but the gun in his hand was also sent flying.
Tony immediately lunged forward and hit him.
Steve got up. "Tony, don't…"
Tony stepped on Bucky's left arm and aimed the cannon at Bucky's head.
Steve immediately threw out the shield.
The palm cannon was pushed to the side, and it blasted a small hole in the cement floor next to Bucky's head.
Steve lunged forward and knocked Tony aside.
For a moment, the three of them fought in the depths of the base.
Seeing the scene unfold as he had expected, Zemo, who was observing from behind the window, didn't feel any pleasure. He simply felt relieved that everything was over, and got up to leave.
Luke, who had been watching the whole time, simply sent a message to T'Challa to let him know that Zemo was leaving.
Now, it was time to deal with Tony.
Luke already knew that Bucky had killed Tony's parents.
His clone had been hunting Hydra members all over the world. Several of them had been from this base, and one of them had known about it.
Under Luke's mind control, the other party couldn't hide anything.
Naturally, he divulged the details of the assassination of Howard Stark.
Luke, however, hadn't told Tony immediately.
Bucky had been completely brainwashed and controlled by Hydra. Strictly speaking, it wasn't his fault.
Otherwise, the people under Luke's mind control who had divulged information on Hydra could be considered 'righteous' individuals who had turned against their side.
An even more extreme example would be Ward, who had been groomed by the Clairvoyant Garrett. In the end, Luke used Telekinesis to control his finger and make him press the button to kill Garrett.
Could this be considered Ward repenting and turning over a new leaf? Of course not.
As an expert at mind control, Luke knew very well what the person under control was like.
Bucky was indeed a victim.
It was in fact someone else who had used Bucky's hand to kill the Stark couple.
The culprit was the person moving Bucky's hand, not Bucky himself.
Steve and Bucky were very close. If Luke said anything, it might immediately cause a split in the Avengers.
But since Zemo had discovered the truth, Luke decided to solve this problem once and for all.
After that, there would be no more hidden dangers in Tony's life.
…
In the base, Tony was still unwilling to be ruthless toward Steve.
He was able to go a few rounds with Steve thanks to his gear, but he started to lose ground.
Looking at Bucky, who was starting to run as Steve covered for him, Tony was anxious, but he couldn't shake off Steve.
The next moment, however, a black figure darted out and grabbed Bucky's metal left arm.
Alarmed, Bucky attacked the person in front of him with his fists and feet.
The newcomer took all his attacks and easily pushed him back into the base, not far from Tony and Steve.
Tony was stunned for a moment, before he said unhappily, "Why are you so late?"
Steve said bitterly, "Bruce, Bucky was just under Hydra's control…"
Luke, who was wearing the Dark Knight armor, nodded. "I know."
Hope surged in Steve's heart. "Then you…"
Luke shook his head. "Bucky is your friend, but Tony is my friend."
Steve opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.
If he could fight Tony over Bucky, it made sense that Knight could fight him over Tony.
After all, Knight was much closer to Tony than he was.
If it hadn't been Bucky as the Winter Soldier who had killed Tony's parents, would Steve be trying so hard to stop Tony? Of course not.
There was an inevitable difference between close friends and acquaintances.
Luke could draw clear lines, while Steve didn't know what to do.
It had to be pointed out that gang bigshots who dared to badmouth Black Cat always ended up in a worse state than everyone else.
When the other members of the Bat Squad were attacked, the subsequent retaliation was even more ruthless.
The Dark Knight had never hidden anything. He had even deliberately made it clear that he was just that protective.
At that moment, Steve vaguely understood why Knight hadn't come out to support Tony when the Avengers split up, but had suddenly appeared now.
Knight could choose not to support Tony's decision when it came to official matters, but he would firmly stand on Tony's side in personal matters.
With Luke's support, Tony's mood after feeling betrayed by Steve finally half-recovered.
Someone had betrayed him, but someone else supported him, which proved that he wasn't alone.
He punched Steve's shield and forced him back. He raised his other hand and fired at Bucky, who had been caught by Luke.
Bang! Pa!
The sound of his attack fizzing out echoed in the base. Astonished, Tony looked at Luke, who had stopped the attack. "Bruce, what are you doing?"
Luke threw Bucky, who had been knocked out with a paralytic toxin, to the ground. "Hang on."
As he spoke, he jumped in front of Steve and grabbed him.
Steve subconsciously raised his shield to block, but he was inexplicably slow.
Luke grabbed his neck and injected him with a small amount of paralytic toxin.
Steve hadn't expected Knight to do that. His body instantly turned numb, but he was conscious enough to glare at Luke.
