Making Enemies

"Do you want to kill him outright?"

Natasha's dissatisfied voice came through Barton's earpiece.

"Don't worry. Since he has the same superpower as Skye, he won't die from the fall. At worst, he'll be crippled."

"Let's hope so. Otherwise, we'll only be bringing back a corpse."

Natasha ran out from her hiding place and happened to see Wang Khan climbing to his feet.

"Quick, quick, quick! He's not dead, and it looks like he isn't even injured!"

Wang Khan withdrew the shockwaves from his hands. Just before hitting the ground, he had blasted a shockwave beneath himself, canceling out the impact of the fall. Otherwise, even with the Green Goblin's physical enhancements, falling from more than ten meters up would likely have left him seriously injured.

Just as he got up, a dart flew in from his blind spot and struck him in the back.

Wang Khan jolted in alarm. Then an intense high-voltage current coursed through his body, making him convulse violently. It was Natasha's signature hidden weapon, the Electric Shock Dart.

"This guy really isn't simple. That dart of mine can knock out an elephant."

"Stop marveling and make your move. He's about to recover."

Hawkeye fired another arrow. Its tip also carried a high-voltage current. Clearly, he wanted to give Wang Khan another electric shock.

But just as the arrow flew over, Wang Khan raised a hand and blasted it away with a shockwave.

Natasha rushed out from behind Wang Khan, leaped onto his shoulders, and used a Judo hold with her legs to restrain his arms. Then she raised both fists, preparing to use the shock devices on her wrists to give Wang Khan's head a little electrotherapy.

"Get lost!"

With a powerful fling, Wang Khan relied on strength several times greater than hers to throw Natasha five or six meters away.

At that moment, three arrows landed around him. Their tips exploded, releasing thick smoke that completely obscured his vision.

Taking the opportunity, Natasha got to her feet and rushed into a nearby building to hide.

"He looks hard to handle. He's even stronger than Skye. I can't control him at all!"

"Natasha, I'm afraid we can't take him alive."

"Understood. Execute Plan B."

Plan B meant killing Wang Khan on the spot and bringing back his body.

As for why they had to bring back the corpse, that went without saying. They would hand it over to the biologists at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy for dissection and analysis, to see whether they could find the source of his superpowers and reproduce them on a large scale.

As professional agents, Natasha and Barton were both cold-blooded and hard-hearted. To them, killing people was as easy as eating and drinking.

Once they made their decision, they immediately switched to lethal weapons. Hawkeye in particular replaced all his arrows with powerful high-explosive warheads, each one as powerful as an RPG.

"Guardian, a high-heat signature has been detected overhead. It should be an Invisible Fighter. At this distance, once our aircraft starts up, we'll be spotted even with stealth capabilities. Our aircraft isn't equipped with aerial combat weapons."

Wang Khan reached back and pulled the Electric Shock Dart embedded in his flesh from his back. His body, enhanced by the Green Goblin Serum, immediately tightened its muscles and stopped the bleeding.

"Mark the enemy aircraft's position for me!"

Red Queen immediately displayed the location on Wang Khan's glasses. After confirming it, Wang Khan raised his right hand and threw a punch at the sky.

Natasha was initially stunned at the sight, but then her expression changed drastically.

"His target is the aircraft! Evade, now!"

It was already too late. The instant Wang Khan swung his fist, the sound of shattering glass came from the sky. Then invisible air currents churned, and under the intense friction of the air, electric currents flashed into existence, forming a terrifying shockwave of sparks and lightning that viciously struck the supersonic fighter overhead.

"Boom!"

The fighter instantly broke apart, then exploded into a giant fireball and crashed heavily into the British Museum plaza. The two pilots inside did not even have time to parachute out.

"Bastard!"

Natasha fired both pistols at Wang Khan's vital points. Prepared for it, Wang Khan merely raised his left hand toward her. A powerful shockwave blocked every bullet, and then he pressed his palm forward. Natasha instinctively rolled aside.

Amid a piercing screech of twisting metal, the ground where Natasha had just stood, along with a car behind it, warped and crumpled as though an elephant had stepped on them. Had Natasha not reacted immediately with her extensive combat experience, she would have been reduced to a lump of flesh.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Three arrows flew in. Wang Khan waved a hand and knocked them away.

But the instant the arrows hit the ground, they exploded violently and burst into raging flames. The three arrowheads had actually concealed napalm bombs!

The blazing fire swept toward Wang Khan and instantly engulfed him.

Just as Hawkeye thought he had succeeded, he saw the surging flames suddenly expand outward. Wang Khan stood in place completely unharmed, his powerful shockwaves blowing the fire away so it could not burn his body at all.

"This guy can emit shockwaves from his entire body!?"

"Natasha, retreat! This guy's a monster! Get back here!"

By now, the two agents understood that the mission had failed. If they continued, not only would they fail to kill Wang Khan, they would lose their own lives as well.

As veteran professional agents, both were experts at assessing enemies. Once they saw the situation turning against them, they would never stubbornly fight to the death.

Barton fired another smoke arrow to create an opportunity for Natasha to escape. Although Wang Khan's vision was blocked by the smoke, his hearing was several times sharper than a normal human's, and he could still hear Natasha's fleeing footsteps.

"Trying to run now? Too late! Die!"

Wang Khan had never had much goodwill toward S.H.I.E.L.D. to begin with, and this time, he truly intended to kill.

Imitating Whitebeard's punch, his strike seemed to crack space itself, producing a strange sound like shattering glass.

Then a shockwave streaked with sparks and lightning blasted forth. Like an enraged dragon, it roared toward Natasha's location.

"Rumble!"

A hundred-meter stretch of street was completely destroyed. Even several police cars rushing over were turned into scrap metal by the shockwave. The officers inside were shattered instantly, dying before they could even cry out.

Wang Khan snorted coldly, crouched down, and held his hands hovering over the ground, one in front and one behind. Wave after wave of increasingly powerful shockwaves emerged, finally erupting all at once.

Amid the violent air currents, Wang Khan shot into the sky like a jet, soaring directly two hundred meters into the air.

Then he rolled his body to the side and somehow came to a stop in midair.

"Guardian, please leave immediately. All of London's police have mobilized, and the nearest Royal Air Force base also appears to be making a move. If we don't leave now, it'll be too late."

"Hmph. Those two S.H.I.E.L.D. dogs got lucky. I'll spare their lives for now."

Wang Khan reached out, lifted open the aircraft cockpit hatch, and leaped inside. Red Queen had already activated the small Quinjet, which caught him perfectly as he flew up.

Amid the roar of its engines, the small Quinjet swiftly departed, leaving United Kingdom airspace before the Royal Air Force could scramble and giving them no chance for an aerial battle.

Elsewhere, Hawkeye rushed into the shattered street and found the unconscious Natasha among the ruins. When he finally managed to drag her out, he discovered that her left leg was empty below the knee—it was completely gone!

"No, no, no~~~~ This can't be real!"

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