Caught Hawkeye

In Thor 3, Thor and Hulk had fought in Sakaar's arena. Thor had been able to gain a slight edge over Hulk through sheer physical strength alone, but only a slight edge.

He had three times Hulk's strength, and unlike that reckless bull Hulk, who only knew how to smash and hack wildly, he was confident he could suppress Thor with physical strength.

If that were all there was to it, he would never dare claim he could beat Thor.

Because Thor's complete form also included Thor's Hammer!

With the hammer in hand, Thor's strength increased by more than tenfold.

As long as that hammer was placed on him, he would be completely unable to resist, not to mention its additional lightning power.

However, he had gained the hammer's recognition just yesterday and now knew its various attack methods. Even if he could not seize Thor's Hammer during a fight, he was still confident he could block or evade it.

By that calculation, he was in the dark while Thor was in the open. Maybe he could give him another beating.

Naturally, Thor did not believe him. He straightened his back, his eyes flashing like lightning, and said with great authority, "Tang, you do not understand. A god's true power is far beyond what Earthlings can imagine..."

Before he could finish, Jane suddenly smacked him on the head. "Stop! Are you two ever going to quit? Keep this up, and I'll send both of you to the hospital to see whether fighting has turned your brains to mush!"

Seeing how angry and worried Jane looked, Thor immediately wilted. "Jane, don't worry. We're perfectly normal. Nothing is wrong with us. It's rare to meet someone like-minded, so we're just bragging a little."

"Really?"

Jane looked at the two of them suspiciously. Is this what friendship between men looks like?

Jane was an astrophysicist. She had devoted her life's energy to scientific research and, like most bookworms, knew little about social matters.

Thinking of how she and her best friend would sometimes get carried away, role-playing and taking turns speaking until they played like lunatics.

Maybe the two of them were anime fans. They said men never really grew up, so it seemed perfectly reasonable for two grown men to like Asgardian mythology.

She would look up information on Asgard later and see what charm it had that could make men so obsessed.

Thinking about it that way, Jane felt that men did not seem so hard to understand after all.

Apocalypse deliberately lowered his voice and leaned closer to whisper, "I know where Thor's Hammer is. Want to go take a look?"

Jane was speechless, rubbing her forehead. Oh God... These two just won't stop...

Hearing that, Thor hurriedly said, "Tang, don't lie to me. I'm going to get my hammer back right now."

With that, he headed for the bar's entrance.

Jane and Apocalypse had no choice but to follow him out.

Ron, left kneeling on the ground, felt incredibly awkward. Master really left. Should I keep kneeling or not?

Thor asked, "Jane, do you know where I can find a horse?"

"What do you need a horse for?"

"I am going to reclaim what belongs to me. In Asgard, we ride winged horses whenever we attend major ceremonies."

Jane was helpless. "Don't you know cars exist?"

In the original plot, Thor seemed to have been portrayed as someone unfamiliar with Earth, someone who did not even know about cars.

In reality, that was simply impossible.

Not to mention that Jane had knocked Thor unconscious with her RV and taken him to the hospital, Thor was Asgard's heir and had lived for over fifteen hundred years. He traveled through the Nine Realms regularly and rode spaceships wherever he went. What kind of advanced technology had he not seen? How could he possibly act like a country bumpkin?

The only explanation was that, in such a miserable situation, he wanted to find some comfort through an old-fashioned ritual.

While the two of them were looking around, Apocalypse had already led over two horses.

Thor laughed heartily and stepped forward to give Apocalypse a bear hug. "Tang, my good friend, you really understand me."

The two men took one horse each and rode toward Thor's Hammer, chatting and laughing.

Jane, left behind, could not believe it. She was so angry that her pearly teeth ground together. What was wrong with these two grown men?

They just ran off like that?

First, they competed in drinking until they were dead drunk. Then they fought until they were bruised and swollen. After that came some Asgardian story role-playing, and now they were talking about finding Thor's Hammer.

Fine, fine, she knew men never grew up, but did they really have to forget there was a beautiful woman right beside them?

How romantic would it have been to hold her while riding a horse toward the sunset?

Did neither of those dense idiots think of that?

What was she supposed to do, drive by herself and follow them?

Jane could not swallow her anger. She drove back, picked up Darcy and her old colleague Eric.

By the time they returned, Apocalypse and Thor had already gone far away.

Fifty kilometers was neither particularly far nor particularly close. By the time the two arrived, it was already night.

Only a day had passed, yet a huge tent had already been erected around Thor's Hammer, enclosing an area nearly a hundred meters wide and dividing it into several sections with different responsibilities.

The place was brightly lit, and countless people were busily working inside.

The two lay prone on a raised hillside, concealing themselves as they observed the situation.

Thor said, "Tang, I can sense it. The hammer is inside. I'll be right back."

"Need my help?"

"No! I need to regain Thor's Hammer's recognition. No one else can help with that."

"Fine, then." Apocalypse bit a blade of grass in boredom. "I'll wait here."

In the original plot, Thor had lost his divine power. Although he managed to break in, he was still captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and failed to retrieve the hammer.

Given Thor's current condition, that plot would probably not change.

Sure enough, Thor tried to sneak in, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s defenses were tight. He had not gone far before the guards spotted him.

A commotion immediately broke out inside, and many people began intercepting Thor.

Though he had lost his divine power, Thor's physical strength was still far beyond that of ordinary Earthlings. He knocked down countless guards and soldiers along the way, broke through layer after layer of defense, and charged toward Thor's Hammer.

Suddenly, a shadow moved atop a high tower. It drew a bow and aimed at Thor from afar.

The shadow released its fingers, and an arrow silently flew toward Thor.

Thor was currently only a little stronger than an ordinary person and could not detect the incoming arrow at all. Just as it was about to strike him, there was a sudden thud, and the arrow fell to the ground.

The shadow looked over and saw that it had been struck down by nothing more than an ordinary little stone.

That shadow was naturally Hawkeye—Barton!

And the one who had knocked down the arrow was Apocalypse.

Hawkeye scanned the surroundings and quickly locked onto Apocalypse's position.

Reaching behind his back, he fired three arrows in rapid succession.

Those three arrows not only sealed off Apocalypse's possible escape routes, but their speeds also varied unpredictably.

The middle arrow looked fast, but halfway through its flight, the arrows on both sides silently overtook it. Under the cover of night, the later shots arrived first.

An ordinary person would be drawn in by the middle arrow and focus more attention on defending against it. Before that arrow even arrived, they would probably already have been hit.

Apocalypse smiled. As expected of a superhero who had risen to fame through archery. That move was nearly impossible for ordinary people to defend against.

When the arrowheads reached him, an afterimage of a hand swept past, and all three arrows were already in Apocalypse's grasp.

Hawkeye was startled, realizing he had encountered an expert.

He casually fired another arrow, then flipped through the air and changed positions.

He had seen Apocalypse use pebbles to knock down arrows. Their power was no weaker than arrows themselves, so he could not remain still in one place.

Apocalypse easily caught the fourth arrow, then suddenly noticed a flicker of red light at its tip and immediately became alert.

Explosive Arrow!

Those who swim well drown in water. Did he think fast hands meant he could do whatever he wanted?

Hawkeye wore a confident smile. That fourth arrow had looked casual, but it was actually an arrow born from countless battles.

In his life, Hawkeye had encountered experts capable of catching arrows with their bare hands. Yet all of them had died beneath his arrows.

For one reason only—arrogance!

If Apocalypse could hear Hawkeye's thoughts, he would probably say that fast hands really could let someone do whatever they wanted!

Just as it was about to explode, Apocalypse clasped his hands together, enclosing the explosive arrowhead within his palms.

Boom!

A muffled blast rang out.

Apocalypse patted his hands, knocking away the black ash and fragments of the arrowhead.

It was as if a firecracker had just gone off in his hands.

How was that possible?!

Hawkeye was utterly shocked!

The explosive arrowheads were specially customized, their power far surpassing ordinary grenades. How could a human hold one in his palms and forcibly smother the explosion?

In The Avengers 1, when Loki invaded Earth, he had once been shot by Hawkeye while riding an alien aircraft.

At the time, Loki had not even turned his eyes. He confidently caught the arrow with one hand.

He had not expected it to be an Explosive Arrow, and it blew him off the aircraft.

It could even blast away a god. The power of the Explosive Arrow was obvious.

Hawkeye wanted to nock another arrow and draw his bow, only to find that his target had disappeared.

Then his back suddenly tightened, and a voice came from behind him. "Didn't Natasha mention me to you?"

Hawkeye slowly turned around and wisely raised his bow. A monster who could hold an Explosive Arrow in his hands was no different from having a gun pressed to his forehead at close range.

"Who are you?" Hawkeye asked.

"You don't know who I am?"

"Am I supposed to know who you are?"

Apocalypse unconsciously shook his head. It seemed that not only had Nick Fury not shown Hawkeye his file, but Natasha had not mentioned him to Hawkeye either.

Nick Fury was one thing. After all, he was a cautious old fox.

But Natasha and Hawkeye were not only comrades who trusted each other with their lives, they were also close friends in private.

Natasha even knew about the safe house where Hawkeye's family lived and often stayed there.

For agents like them, that was equivalent to entrusting the lives of their entire family to the other person.

Of course, Natasha also cared deeply for Hawkeye's children.

During the final battle against Thanos, the two of them had fought to sacrifice their own lives for the Soul Stone so the other could live.

Whether publicly or privately, it showed just how much they trusted each other.

Thinking of this, Apocalypse could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.

It seemed Natasha had not fully accepted him. Otherwise, she would not have hidden his existence from Hawkeye.

Apocalypse could only say, "My name is Tang Tianqi. I am Natasha's husband."

"Hus... husband?"

Hawkeye was completely dumbfounded!

He had imagined ten thousand possibilities. Even if Apocalypse had claimed to be an alien god hired by Hydra, he would not have been this shocked. He had never expected to hear those words.

"Let Natasha tell you herself. I want to know why she never mentioned me too."

As he spoke, he called Black Widow.

"Natasha, I caught someone called Hawkeye..."

Before he could finish, Black Widow's anxious voice came through from the other end. "How is he? You didn't beat him to death, did you?"

Hawkeye was speechless. Why was the first thing she asked whether he was dead? How little faith did she have in her partner?