Caught Hawkeye

In Thor: Ragnarok, Thor and Hulk had fought in Sakaar's arena. Relying purely on physical strength, Thor had been able to slightly overpower Hulk, though only slightly.

He possessed three times Hulk's strength, and unlike that reckless brute who only knew how to smash and hack away, he was confident he could suppress Thor with raw physical power.

If that were all, he would never dare claim he could defeat 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 just gained the hammer's recognition yesterday and now understood its various attack methods. Even if he could not seize Thor's Hammer during battle, he was still confident he could block and evade it.

By that calculation, he was in the shadows while Thor was in the open. Maybe he could beat him up again.

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

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

Seeing Jane's angry yet worried expression, Thor immediately wilted. "Jane, don't worry. We're perfectly normal. Nothing's wrong with us. It's rare to meet someone like-minded, so we're just bragging to each other."

"Really?"

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

Jane was an astrophysicist who had devoted her life to research. Like most bookworms, she knew little about social niceties.

She recalled how she and her best friend would sometimes get overly excited, role-playing together, one speaking and the other responding as they played around like lunatics.

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

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

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

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

Jane was speechless, pressing a hand to her forehead. God... these two just won't stop...

Thor hurriedly said, "Tang, don't lie to me. I'll go retrieve the hammer right now."

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

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

Ron, left kneeling on the floor, felt incredibly awkward. His master had really left. Should he 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 Pegasus for important ceremonies."

Jane was helpless. "Do you not know that 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 truth, that was simply impossible.

Not to mention that Jane had knocked Thor unconscious with her RV and sent him to the hospital. As Asgard's heir, Thor had lived for more than fifteen hundred years and traveled among the Nine Realms aboard spacecraft all the time. What kind of advanced technology had he not seen? How could he possibly act like some country bumpkin?

The only explanation was that, in such a depressed state, 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 friend, you really understand me."

The two rode one horse each, chatting and laughing as they headed toward Thor's Hammer.

Jane, left behind, stared in disbelief. Her pearly teeth ground together in anger. What was wrong with these two grown men?

They had just run off like that?

First, they had competed in drinking until they were dead drunk. Then they had fought until they were bruised and battered. Next 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 toward the sunset?

Did neither of those straight men think of that?

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

Jane could not take it anymore. She turned the car around, picked up Darcy and her old colleague Eric, then came back.

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 across and dividing it into multiple sections with different responsibilities.

The interior was brightly lit, with countless people busy at work.

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

Thor said, "Tang, I can sense that the hammer is inside. I'll be back shortly."

"Need my help?"

"No! I must regain Thor's Hammer's recognition. No one can help me 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 probably would not change.

Sure enough, Thor tried to sneak in, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s defenses were tight. Before he had gone far, the guards discovered him.

A commotion soon broke out inside, and many people began moving to intercept Thor.

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

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

The shadow released the string, and an arrow flew silently toward Thor.

Thor was only a little stronger than an ordinary person now and could not detect the Yaka Arrow at all. Just as it was about to hit him, there was a soft pfft, and the arrow fell to the ground.

The shadow looked over and saw that it had been struck down by an utterly ordinary little stone.

That shadow was none other than Hawkeye—Barton!

And the one who had knocked down the Yaka Arrow was Apocalypse.

Hawkeye swept his gaze around and quickly locked onto Apocalypse's position.

He reached behind his back, and three arrows flew from his bowstring.

Not only did those three arrows block off Apocalypse's possible escape routes, their differing speeds also made them difficult to predict.

The middle arrow appeared extremely fast, but halfway through its flight, the arrows on both sides silently overtook it. Hidden by the night, they arrived first despite being fired later.

Most people would be drawn in by the middle arrow and focus more on defending against it. Before that arrow even arrived, they would likely have already been hit.

Apocalypse smiled. As expected of a superhero who had risen through archery alone—this move was nearly impossible for ordinary people to guard against.

When the arrowheads neared his body, a blur of a hand flashed past, and all three arrows were already in Apocalypse's grasp.

Hawkeye was startled, realizing that he had encountered an expert.

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

He had also seen Apocalypse use a pebble to knock down an arrow. Its power was no weaker than an arrow's, so he could not remain motionless in one spot.

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

Explosive Arrow!

A skilled swimmer could still drown. Did he think quick hands meant he could do whatever he wanted?

Hawkeye revealed a confident smile. That fourth arrow had appeared casual, but in truth, it had been fired from a lifetime of combat experience.

Throughout Hawkeye's life, he had encountered experts capable of catching arrows barehanded, but every one of them had died beneath his arrows.

For one reason—arrogance!

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

Just before the explosion, Apocalypse pressed his palms together and enclosed the explosive arrowhead within them.

Bang!

A muffled explosion sounded.

Apocalypse clapped his hands, shaking off 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 shocked!

The explosive arrowhead had been specially customized, with power far exceeding an ordinary grenade. How could a human hold it inside his palms and forcibly smother the explosion?

In The Avengers 1, when Loki invaded Earth aboard an alien aircraft, Hawkeye had once shot an arrow at him.

Loki had not even turned his eyes toward it and confidently caught the arrow with one hand.

Yet it had been an Explosive Arrow, blasting him off the aircraft.

Even a god could be blown away by it. The Explosive Arrow's power was obvious.

Hawkeye tried to nock another arrow, only to discover that his target had vanished.

Then his back suddenly tightened, and a voice sounded behind him. "Did Natasha never mention me to you?"

Hawkeye slowly turned around and sensibly raised his bow. A monster capable of holding an Explosive Arrow in his palm was no different from having a gun pressed against his forehead once it got close.

"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 files, Natasha had not mentioned him to Hawkeye either.

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

But Natasha and Hawkeye were not only comrades who entrusted their lives to each other; they also had an excellent personal friendship.

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

For agents like them, that was equivalent to entrusting one's entire family's lives to the other person.

Naturally, Natasha was also extremely fond of Hawkeye's children.

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

Whether publicly or privately, it showed the depth of their trust.

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

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."

"W-What husband?"

Hawkeye was completely dumbfounded!

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

"Let Natasha explain it to you. I also want to know why she never mentioned me."

As he spoke, he dialed Black Widow's number.

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

Before he could finish, Black Widow's anxious voice came through the phone. "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? Just how little did she think of her partner?