During the following weeks, Karl settled into a surprisingly peaceful routine.
Peter quickly learned that Karl and May were now together. He accepted it with the uncomplicated logic of a child. Karl treated him kindly, protected him, and bought him things he needed — that was enough.
On school days, Peter stayed in Queens to attend class, returning to the farm on weekends.
While he was away, Karl took May on outings — shopping trips, walks through Manhattan, quiet dinners, and drives through the countryside. The attention and companionship made May feel as though time had rolled backward, restoring a warmth she had not felt since Ben's death.
When they returned to the farm, far from the thin walls of the city and Peter's nearby room, May no longer needed to restrain herself. Years of loneliness had left a void she had buried beneath responsibility and routine.
Karl, having discovered her tenderness and hidden intensity, found himself equally unable to resist.
Meanwhile, Karl continued daily training with the Perfect Superpower Training Box.
Each day:
30 minutes telekinesis
30 minutes teleportation
30 minutes laser vision training
The progress was steady and tangible.
At the same time, he reviewed everything he knew about Tony Stark's kidnapping.
With only a general memory of the location in Afghanistan, Karl dispatched 200 shadow ninjas into the desert.
Because shadow ninjas could move through darkness and observe the physical world from the Shadow Realm, their search efficiency far exceeded conventional methods.
Even so, the Ten Rings' cave network was hidden deep within mountainous terrain.
It took nearly thirty days to locate Stark.
Once the location was confirmed, Karl had Speed fabricate miniature encrypted surveillance devices and relay modules.
The precautions were necessary.
If outside forces triangulated the signal and discovered Stark prematurely, the timeline could shift — potentially preventing Iron Man's creation.
Karl had no intention of risking that.
Now seated on the sofa, he watched live footage on his phone.
Tony Stark — billionaire industrialist, genius engineer, and future Avenger — stood inside a cave, stripped of luxury, hammer in hand, forging metal under harsh torchlight.
Watching him work in real time was far more compelling than any film Karl had seen in his previous life.
He watched as Stark and Ho Yinsen dismantled weapons components, extracting palladium and usable circuitry.
They were not building a missile.
They were building Stark's survival.
Karl had several reasons for not intervening immediately.
One was practical.
Another was strategic.
And one lingered at the edge of the mystical.
The Ancient One possessed the Time Stone and oversaw the stability of reality's timeline. Stark's survival and eventual heroism were pivotal to future events.
If Karl disrupted that destiny prematurely…
would there be consequences?
He did not intend to find out.
Instead, he would intervene after the Mark I armor was complete, ensuring Stark's survival while preserving the timeline.
He also intended to save Ho Yinsen.
Not purely out of sentiment.
A rescued life was another debt Stark would never forget.
Combined with the palladium poisoning Stark would later suffer — and Karl's Senzu Beans — the favors would accumulate.
Karl smiled slightly.
With enough leverage, acquiring a suit from Stark's future armory would not be impossible.
The Mark L nanotech armor alone was enough to ignite any man's imagination.
"Karl… why are you smiling like that?"
May sat beside him, studying his expression.
He coughed lightly.
"Nothing. I was just watching Tony Stark struggle with metalwork. Look."
He handed her the phone.
May's eyes widened.
"Oh my God… that's Tony Stark! Isn't he missing? You didn't kidnap him, did you?"
Her question wasn't entirely joking.
She knew about the shadow ninjas.
She knew they were energy constructs, not living beings.
She knew about Speed.
Karl took her hand and smiled wryly.
"No. He was captured by the Ten Rings. Obadiah Stane arranged the assassination attempt — the original plan was to eliminate Tony and seize control of Stark Industries. The militants didn't realize who they had captured, so they forced him to build weapons."
May leaned against his chest.
"Why would his partner do that?"
"For control," Karl said softly. "If Tony dies, Stane consolidates his shares and takes the company."
May was silent for a moment.
Then she looked up at him.
"You bought Stark Industries stock. If he doesn't come back… won't you lose everything?"
Karl gently stroked her hair.
"I will save him."
He paused.
"But not yet. In about a month."
She searched his eyes.
"Be careful. I'll be waiting for you. I don't want to lose you… promise me."
"I promise."
She kissed him softly.
Time passed quickly.
Karl divided his days between:
observing Stark's progress,
training his new abilities,
strengthening farm defenses.
May refused to remain idle despite Karl's support. She insisted on keeping herself occupied, maintaining routines that gave her a sense of independence and dignity.
Karl respected her wishes.
Still, he ensured Speed remained near her whenever Peter was away.
HYDRA now knew of his existence.
They would eventually move against him.
They always did.
The current quiet likely meant one of two things:
Nick Fury's internal purge had forced them into temporary silence.
Or they were preparing something more precise.
If Karl's understanding of HYDRA operations remained accurate…
the Winter Soldier would already be active.
And when HYDRA chose to strike,
they would not miss.
...…