The meticulously staged car crash was no accident.
It was a cold-blooded, surgical assassination.
Howard Stark lay dead against the steering wheel.
He was a visionary scientist on the verge of breakthroughs that could revolutionize global energy production.
Now, his highly coveted genius was bleeding out onto the frozen asphalt.
Beside him, his wife Maria shared his grim fate.
Their demise secured two things: Howard's permanent silence and five vials of a game-changing formula stolen from the trunk.
The Super Soldier Serum.
A faint, desperate psychic echo pierced the unnatural silence of the snowy road.
It was a dying plea for his wife's life.
Ernst materialized directly beside Howard's lifeless body.
He raised his hand, and dark energy crackled across his fingertips.
With a violent surge of magic, he ripped Howard's soul directly from his body.
Bewildered and completely disoriented, Howard opened his eyes.
He looked down and saw his own mangled corpse.
He realized he was a ghost, a wisp floating in the freezing air.
He looked up and was confronted by a towering figure adorned with demonic horns.
The Devil.
Fear and confusion colored Howard's voice as he demanded answers.
He pieced the puzzle together rapidly.
The strange circumstances of his murder, the lingering echo of his own dying plea, and the classified files all pointed to one grim reality.
"You are the owner of the Devil's Cabin!" Howard exclaimed, scrutinizing the horned entity.
They had never met in life, but Carter's old mission reports matched Ernst's terrifying appearance flawlessly.
"Indeed, Mr. Howard Stark," Ernst acknowledged with a chilling, polite smile.
"A pleasure to finally meet you in person. Though our current circumstances seem rather dire for you and your lovely wife."
Grief washed over Howard as he looked at Maria's lifeless form slumped in the passenger seat.
Desperation laced his spectral voice as he begged the entity for her salvation.
Ernst, the master manipulator, readily offered a solution, a cruel smile twisting his lips.
"Saving her is certainly within my power, Mr. Stark. However, you must remember what I am."
"I am a devil. Everything comes with a price tag."
With a theatrical flourish of his hand, Ernst reached into the wrecked car.
He summoned Maria's soul, pulling her spectral form into the cold night air.
The couple reunited instantly, clinging to each other in their ethereal state.
Their embrace, however, lacked the warmth of physical touch or the release of tears.
It was a cold, harsh consequence of their incorporeal reality.
"Enough sentimentality," Ernst interrupted, his tone shifting to strict business.
"I did not pull you from the void for a tearful reunion. A monumental choice awaits you, Mr. Stark."
Confused and desperate, Howard stammered.
"You said I called you here? What do you mean by that?"
Ernst's demonic facade faltered momentarily.
A brief flicker of annoyance crossed his face.
"Do not be ridiculous. Of course, you didn't consciously summon me."
"Why else would I be standing on a freezing road in Long Island? I sensed a soul's desperate cry, a plea that resonated with a very specific, ancient bargain."
"Are you having second thoughts about survival now, Mr. Stark?"
Howard's brilliant mind raced as he analyzed Ernst's words.
A fierce flicker of hope ignited in his chest. Resurrection was a genuine possibility.
But a heavy, nagging doubt surfaced immediately.
Was this a legitimate second chance, or a permanent trap set by a predator?
The required price was undoubtedly steep, and Howard was entirely unsure what he was willing to sacrifice for a second chance at life, his marriage, and his scientific legacy.
Ernst smoothly confirmed his fears.
"Mr. Stark. I am a devil, remember? Anything in this universe can be yours for the right price."
"Resurrection is entirely included."
Ernst leaned closer, a sly, calculating glint in his glowing eyes.
"However, your current state is rather... ethereal. I do not deal in spiritual debts."
"Transactions must be face-to-face. The only currency I accept from you is your ingenuity."
The immense weight of this revelation settled heavily on Howard's shoulders.
It was intriguing, yet deeply unsettling. A spark of his trademark defiance flickered back to life.
"But surely," Howard countered, gesturing to the silent world around them, "countless innocents perish daily. Their desperation must be equally immense. Can they all summon you?"
Ernst smacked his lips, genuinely amused by the scientist's logic.
"Not quite, Mr. Stark."
"You possess a very specific, rare quality. An intellect that promises massive, tangible benefits for my operations."
"That unique value allows you, and a very select few others, to trigger my notice."
Ernst glanced fleetingly at Maria.
"Under highly specific circumstances, other traits might attract my attention. A warrior of unwavering, suicidal will. Perhaps even a woman with exceptional charisma and leadership."
The carefully cultivated facade of an omnipotent, summoned entity crumbled slightly.
In truth, Ernst's mystical hold wasn't as reactive as it appeared.
He had placed a magical mark on Howard decades ago.
A subtle, tracking tether.
This was not unique to Howard. Ernst had marked several high-value targets across the globe.
Resurrection was merely Ernst's most effective recruitment tool to amass a private collection of extraordinary individuals.
Understanding slowly dawned on Howard's spectral face.
"Indeed. Now, let us pivot to the real question: the exact cost of your resurrection, and your wife's."
Ernst laid out the terms with chilling clarity.
"It will require your exclusive scientific service for thirty years, entirely free of charge."
"To cover both of your souls, that duration doubles to sixty years."
"I will place you in a highly secluded, secure location. ... unusual individuals will surround you."
"You will have zero contact with Earth during this tenure. The world will firmly believe you are dead."
Ernst offered a small, tempting concession.
"However, I will halt your biological aging. Upon your return to society, you will retain your current, youthful bodies."
"But be warned: your memories of your time in my service will be permanently erased upon your release."
The crushing weight of the decision pressed heavily on Howard.
Sixty years?
When they finally returned, their son Tony would be an older man, assuming he even survived that long without them.
What purpose would there be in returning to a world that had entirely moved on?
Sensing her husband's agonizing turmoil, Maria stepped forward.
Her spectral voice was unwavering.
"What if I contribute my labor as well?"
Ernst's response was brutally blunt.
"The price per soul remains fixed, Mrs. Stark."
"Honestly, your value pales in comparison to Howard's. You are a capable leader, but your potential is drastically inferior."
"Howard, with his brilliant engineering mind, could create scientific value."
Maria felt a sharp pang of devaluation.
The brutal difference in their assigned worth was starkly laid bare by the devil.
Howard was the genius inventor. She was merely a leader. The gap was mathematically undeniable.
As the Starks wrestled with this agonizing, impossible choice, Ernst sighed silently.
Even thirty years could bring unimaginable, catastrophic changes to the world's geopolitical landscape.
He could not guarantee the stability of his own empire over six decades.
"Mr. Stark," Ernst proposed, a new, darker option emerging.
"There is an alternative. Sell your souls to me completely. Permanently."
"This route allows for certain... aggressive discounts."
"You would remain in your current home. You would continue your normal life with Tony. Both you and your wife would be instantly resurrected, and your family would be seamlessly reunited tonight."
"All it takes is the permanent deed to your souls."
A predatory, hungry glint flickered in Ernst's eyes as he awaited Howard's response.
Maria's sharp, maternal intuition proved invaluable.
She vehemently rejected selling their souls, instantly recognizing the exorbitant, eternal cost and the horrifying, unforeseen consequences of damnation.
Her love for Howard shone through clearly.
She declared her unwavering willingness to endure anything by his side, even a hellish, isolated existence.
Moved by Maria's fierce conviction, the flicker of despair shadowing Howard's face hardened into solid resolve.
He opted for the first plan.
Sixty years of isolated servitude in exchange for their biological resurrection.
Despite the agonizing prospect of a long separation from their son, they made the difficult decision.
They trusted Tony's genius to handle his own well-being.
Maria, entirely unwilling to be a helpless burden, proposed contributing her own management skills for the sixty-year duration.
She planned to use her skills to acquire a magical protective item for Tony.
A safeguard for his inevitable, critical moments of danger.
Ernst, ever the shrewd, calculating businessman, saw the logistical potential in Maria's offer.
He acknowledged her fierce dedication.
He even offered future discounts and conditional reductions in their service time based on their performance metrics.
Ernst manifested a holographic projection of various magical items, each boasting unique, arcane properties.
After careful, tactical consideration, Maria settled on the Chain of Life Recovery.
It was a silver necklace containing a glowing green pendant.
It would continuously heal the wearer's physical injuries, effectively mimicking a mutant's regenerative abilities.
With a preliminary verbal agreement struck, Ernst extracted spectral blood samples from the Starks.
He instantly transported them from the freezing road to the Devil's Cabin.
Since it was not an official business day, Chris was absent from the front desk.
Ernst personally drafted a heavy, parchment contract.
The Starks meticulously studied the binding magical clauses before finally offering their agreement.
Ernst then sealed their souls securely into two glowing containment vials.
He bypassed his usual laboratories, utilizing the highly advanced equipment on Skull Island to begin cultivating their new, cloned bodies.
The biological gestation process would require immense time and effort.
While Ernst could have stayed on Skull Island for a month to oversee the cellular weaving personally, he opted to delegate.
He returned to the farmhouse in Kansas to spend his time with Tina.
He entrusted the remaining tasks to Kerry, highly confident in the butler's logistical perfection.
Ernst relaxed, reveling in the massive success of the night's transaction.
Howard Stark was a brilliant, generational mind.
Pairing Stark's engineering intellect with the captured alien technology in his vaults promised terrifying, rapid advancements for his entire empire.