Songbird and Hawkeye’s Shock

Hearing the sudden voice, Hawkeye, who remained vigilant at all times, instantly prepared for battle.

But in the next moment, Old Barton suddenly realized that the voice sounded familiar. It was a familiarity buried deep in his mind, a voice he had not heard in a very long time.

Old Barton’s mind went a little numb. His eyes widened. He had already remembered who that voice belonged to, but he still could not believe his own judgment.

Slowly turning around, Old Barton looked at the face identical to the one in his memories, along with that signature silver hair. His pupils contracted, and even his breathing stopped.

In Hawkeye’s line of sight, Pietro had somehow appeared before him. In Pietro’s arms was Songbird, clad in her combat suit, whom he was supporting.

"P-Pietro?!"

Songbird Melissa clearly had not recovered from the shock either. Once she steadied herself, she stared at the young man who had saved her as though she had seen a ghost.

"Hello." Pietro grinned.

Pietro suddenly enjoyed revealing himself in front of these heroes. They all seemed to know him and were familiar with his variant in this world, which gave him an oddly exhilarating feeling.

"Impossible! You clearly already…"

Melissa covered her mouth, and two streams of hot tears instantly slid down her aged face.

If there were people she felt the most guilty toward in her life, it was undoubtedly the West Coast Avengers of those days. After all, when she had tacitly accepted becoming a traitor, she had watched those heroes die before her very eyes.

That included Quicksilver Pietro of this universe!

Melissa would never forget that scene. After Scarlet Witch was killed by Magneto, Quicksilver, unable to accept it, stopped for an instant, allowing Sandman beside him to seize the opportunity and smash Quicksilver’s legs.

And while the other heroes died one after another because of the Thunderbolts’ betrayal, Quicksilver cursed the Thunderbolts members furiously, his face filled with hatred. Before his death, the killing intent in Quicksilver’s gaze seemed almost tangible, becoming Melissa’s nightmare for most of her life.

That hate-filled face gradually merged with Pietro’s face before Melissa. She could not help taking two steps back, tears streaming endlessly down her cheeks.

"Back off, Songbird. That isn’t the Pietro you know. I’m guessing this guy might be a lone Skrull!"

Though utterly shocked, Old Barton reacted immediately. He drew his bow sharply, aiming an arrow at Pietro’s head. His gaze was filled with fury as he gritted his teeth and said,

"Kid, you shouldn’t insult the dead. Now, peel off that skin for me! Otherwise, I’ll be the last face you ever see!"

"Dad, stop!"

Just then, a shout came from the distance. A figure suddenly shot out from the forest, firing webs from both hands as she sped toward Hawkeye and the others.

Hearing that familiar voice again, Old Barton’s hand holding the bow could not help trembling. He turned around in astonishment, and for a moment, Hawkeye thought he had fallen into an illusion as he watched the nimble masked girl.

"Ashley?"

But Barton quickly dismissed the possibility. His precious daughter was still with his ex-wife. How could she have traveled all the way to the Canadian border? It was absolutely impossible.

"Who exactly are you people?!"

"You don’t recognize me?"

Ashley landed steadily on the ground. Then her Venom mask automatically opened, revealing her original face. Her expression was somewhat unnatural, but she still asked in return.

"You…"

Barton opened his mouth, nearly bewildered by the sight before him.

Running into Sentinel Robots here had already been absurd enough. Then Quicksilver, who had died in the war of old, and his own daughter had inexplicably appeared here as well.

It was hard not to wonder whether he was hallucinating. Especially for a battle-hardened hero like Hawkeye, he was even more likely to suspect that he had fallen into an enemy’s trap at some point.

Fortunately, Zhang Ye appeared in time, dispelling Old Barton’s deepest doubts and concerns.

"Long time no see, Mr. Barton." Zhang Ye and Kara arrived late, strolling over at an unhurried pace.

"It’s you!"

Though Old Barton’s eyesight was poor, he could never forget Zhang Ye. He recognized at once the young wizard who had subdued him in a single exchange.

"You still remember me, ‘old friend.’ Then I won’t need to introduce myself again."

Zhang Ye smiled faintly, then turned his gaze toward the old woman.

Unexpectedly, because of his intervention, Old Barton’s teammate had changed from the second Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, to Songbird. In a sense, though, that was a good thing. Bringing Songbird back into action was still better than letting her die at Bullseye’s hands.

"Why are you here? No, wait. I remember you said before that you…"

Barton suddenly remembered something and froze on the spot. Then he turned to Pietro and asked in a hoarse, trembling voice.

"…Th-then, he is also…"

Noticing Old Barton’s gaze, Pietro answered with a sunny smile.

Barton’s eyes widened at that. "So you didn’t come alone!?"

Songbird might not understand the cryptic exchange between Barton and Zhang Ye, but the others did. Zhang Ye had clearly told Barton about his identity as a transmigrator, but what Barton did not know was that Zhang Ye was not the only transmigrator.

"I told you, when we first met, while you didn’t trust me, I didn’t trust you either. Naturally, I couldn’t tell you everything about myself, even if you used to be a hero. After all, in different universes, I can’t be sure what kind of person you really are."

Zhang Ye replied casually. Then he walked over to Barton and looked at Songbird, who was still weeping uncontrollably. "Mr. Barton, aren’t you going to introduce us?"

"Oh, this is Melissa, codename Songbird." Barton rubbed his eyes and lowered the bow in his hand again.

But Melissa seemed immersed in her own world. She did not react at all to Zhang Ye and the others’ arrival. She merely stared blankly at Pietro, continuously murmuring, "I’m sorry."

Having never experienced this world’s history, Pietro did not know much about the war of old, so for the moment, he did not know how to react either.

Thus, Pietro could only support Songbird and keep comforting her softly.

Taking advantage of this moment, Old Barton looked around, his gaze sweeping across every face before finally settling on Zhang Ye.

"…I have something to tell you."

With that, Old Barton stepped forward, grabbed Zhang Ye, and dragged him away into the distance.