Culver University, Underground Laboratory.
“Hss…” A sharp pain in his chest jolted Clint Barton awake.
His eyes opened sluggishly as he tried to make sense of his surroundings.
The room was cramped and packed with cleaning supplies.
Three surveillance cameras were mounted in separate corners near the ceiling, and the smell of disinfectant lingered heavily in the air.
Clint himself was tied securely to a chair, arms and legs completely restrained.
His weapons were nowhere to be seen.
‘Supply closet inside the laboratory.’ Years of field experience allowed Hawkeye to identify his surroundings almost immediately.
He tested the restraints.
Nothing moved.
Clint sighed.
“Yeah.
I’m not getting out of this one by myself.” Whoever had tied him up knew exactly what they were doing.
Every angle had been chosen to prevent meaningful movement, and even if the restraints had been sloppier, Clint currently lacked the strength to fight them.
At least three broken ribs.
Fractured left arm.
His left leg was bent at an unnatural angle.
There was probably internal damage as well.
Clint had been injured often enough to perform a fairly accurate assessment without medical equipment.
It had been a long time since anyone had beaten him this badly.
Not that he was particularly ashamed of losing this fight.
What he had faced could barely be called human.
The enhanced soldier had broken his ribs with casual punches, torn through steel with his bare hands, and even shrugged off one of Clint’s explosive arrows.
A super-soldier injected with a serum incorporating vampire genetics.
Clint considered himself lucky the bastard had not killed him with the first punch.
Click.
The door suddenly opened.
A massive man in military uniform stepped inside.
He was so tall that he had to lower his head slightly to clear the doorframe.
Even his relatively loose fatigues struggled to contain the absurd amount of muscle underneath them.
Yet his face was strangely pale and almost unnaturally smooth, his skin flawless enough that Clint could barely make out a pore.
A faint smile rested on the man’s lips.
His eyes were blood-red.
The newcomer looked Clint over and chuckled.
“This is a Level Seven S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent?” His smile sharpened.
“Pretty disappointing.” Clint lifted his head.
“Blonsky.” His voice came out rough, but the contempt was unmistakable.
“That serum has vampire DNA in it.
You’re going to regret taking it.” Emil Blonsky laughed.
“Regret it?” His voice dripped with mockery.
“You say that like S.H.I.E.L.D.
has never done the exact same kind of thing.” Blonsky gestured toward the ceiling.
“You want to know why nobody’s released you yet?” “People above Ross have already seen what this serum can do.
They’re not going to let you hand evidence over to anyone trying to shut the project down.” His smile widened.
“I’ll admit, S.H.I.E.L.D.
still has enough influence to keep you alive.” “But until the Hulk experiments are finished, you’re not leaving this facility.” “So make yourself comfortable.” Clint glared at him.
“The reason we know what’s wrong with this kind of experiment is because we’ve already made those mistakes.” “The defects aren’t something you can find with a microscope or blood test.” His voice remained cold.
“You think you’re controlling the serum.” “You’re not.” “It’s changing you.
Eventually, there won’t be enough of Emil Blonsky left to matter.
You’ll become a monster driven by bloodlust and violence.” Blonsky burst out laughing.
“You people really are unbelievable.” His expression filled with contempt.
“S.H.I.E.L.D.
fails at something, so you decide nobody else can succeed?” “General Ross already found a solution.
He created the most advanced version of the serum yet.” His eyes gleamed with manic excitement.
“And the Hulk is already part of the next stage of testing.” “When that succeeds, I’ll become the ultimate life-form.” Blonsky spread his arms.
“Then every critic will shut their mouth, and S.H.I.E.L.D.
itself will become obsolete.” His laughter grew louder.
“Hahahahaha!” Clint watched him for several seconds.
Then he said flatly, “See?
It’s already affecting your head.” The laughter stopped instantly.
Blonsky’s smile vanished.
He stared at Clint with naked fury.
If Ross had not given strict orders that Barton was to remain alive, Blonsky would have happily crushed his skull on the spot.
But Ross had only said he could not kill him.
There were plenty of other options.
Blonsky turned and left.
A few moments later, he returned carrying a syringe.
Clint’s expression darkened.
“What are you doing?” A sick smile spread across Blonsky’s face, stretching almost unnaturally wide.
“Muscle relaxant.” He held up the syringe.
“We originally prepared it for the Hulk.” “Once I inject this, you won’t be able to control your muscles properly for quite a while.” Blonsky leaned closer.
“You might even lose control of your bladder.” Then he lowered his mouth beside Clint’s ear.
“We know you managed to send one message to S.H.I.E.L.D.” His voice dropped.
“So tell me, Barton…” “Do you think they’ll send someone to rescue you?” Clint’s expression became grim.
Who would Fury send?
Natasha?
Calvin?
Neither option reassured him.
Natasha was one of the best agents alive, but the soldiers in this facility were no longer ordinary troops.
And Calvin…
The man had powers, certainly.
But based on what Clint had seen during the evaluation, even Calvin probably was not prepared for what Ross had built here.
If he came, he might simply become another prisoner.
Blonsky’s smile became even more grotesque.
He placed one hand on Clint’s head and casually rolled it from side to side as though palming a basketball.
“You know what the serum did to my sense of smell?” “I can smell blood through walls.” “I can judge how strong someone is from it.” “I can even smell fear.” Blonsky inhaled deeply.
“No one is sneaking into this facility.
Not in a million—” His expression changed.
He inhaled again.
The smile disappeared.
‘No.’ Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
There was a scent approaching from below.
Blood.
But not normal blood.
It felt hot.
Unnaturally hot.
As though sunlight itself were flowing through someone’s veins.
And it was getting closer.
Fast.
Blonsky stared at the floor.
‘Impossible.’ Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
As if to confirm what his enhanced senses had already detected, a steady digging noise began beneath them.
It grew louder by the second.
Blonsky’s eyes remained fixed on the floor.
He did not notice that one of his own feet had begun trembling.
Thunk!
A final impact sounded beneath the room.
Then, before either man’s stunned eyes, a perfectly square section of floor roughly a meter across simply disappeared.
Its edges were so clean that it looked less like something had been dug out and more like reality itself had deleted the concrete.
A head suddenly popped up from the hole.
Calvin looked directly at Clint and grinned.
“Hawkeye!
Finally found you!” Clint did not look relieved.
He screamed.
“CALVIN, LOOK OUT!
HE’S—” Too late.
Blonsky moved on pure instinct.
He threw everything he had into one punch.
His fist tore through the air with a violent howl, aimed directly at Calvin’s exposed head.
BOOM!
The impact shook the room.
A sickening series of cracks followed.
Blood sprayed across the walls.
Clint’s face was splattered red, momentarily blinding him.
His heart sank.
‘No.’ That young agent— The best marksman Clint had ever met besides himself, maybe even better— Dead because he had come here to save him.
Calvin had been young.
He had his entire future ahead of him.
And now— “Hey, Hawkeye.” Clint froze.
“Ready to get out of here?” “…What?” A faint breeze passed over Clint’s face, clearing the blood from his eyes.
Then he finally saw what had happened.
The blood covering the room was not Calvin’s.
It belonged to Blonsky.
The enhanced soldier was now little more than a head attached to part of his upper torso.
Most of the rest of him was stuck to the walls.
“How…” Blonsky was somehow still alive, his grotesque vitality refusing to let him die.
His eyes were stretched wide with disbelief.
“How is that possible?” He had attacked first.
Yet somehow, before his fist ever connected, his own body had exploded from the inside.
Blonsky had not even seen Calvin move.
All he remembered was an overwhelming force erupting through him from within.
‘Did S.H.I.E.L.D.
create a serum stronger than ours?’ Clint stared at Calvin as he climbed out of the hole.
Then Natasha emerged behind him.
“How the hell did you two get in here?” Natasha shrugged.
“Don’t ask me.” “I’m still processing it myself.” She had just watched Calvin take out a bizarre pixelated pickaxe and dig several hundred meters of tunnel in barely more than ten minutes.
And that included the time they had spent correcting their direction after getting slightly lost.
Fury had somehow recruited the world’s most heavily armed construction worker.
“We can discuss the tunnel later.” Calvin glanced at the surveillance cameras.
“This place is monitored.
We need to move.” He walked over, grabbed Clint’s restraints, and tore the ropes apart with one pull.
Then he hoisted Hawkeye over his shoulder.
“Wait—wait!” Pain exploded through Clint’s chest.
His face went white.
Calvin’s rough movement had apparently driven one of his broken ribs straight into his lung.
“Rib…” Clint coughed.
“My ribs are broken.” Calvin paused.
“Oh.” He sighed.
“You could’ve mentioned that earlier.” Natasha entered the tunnel first.
Calvin carefully lowered the now severely weakened Barton into the passage after her, then destroyed the entrance behind them.
Inside the tunnel, blood trickled from the corner of Clint’s mouth.
His expression became completely hopeless.
What was crueler than nearly dying in enemy captivity?
Getting rescued successfully and then being nearly killed by your own teammate.
With a rib puncturing his lung, Clint doubted he would survive long enough to reach a hospital.
He looked weakly toward Natasha and Calvin.
“Take care of…
my wife and kids…” Calvin stared at him.
“What are you talking about?” Clint blinked.
“I haven’t even done anything yet.
Why are you giving us your last words?” Calvin tapped one finger against his body.
A flash of blue light passed through Clint.
His collapsed lung repaired itself.
His broken ribs fused back together.
His fractured arm and leg healed instantly.
Even the smaller injuries and lingering physical problems Clint had accumulated over the years disappeared.
The Horse Talisman did not mess around.
Natasha stared.
“…?” Clint stared.
“…?” He moved his previously broken arm.
Then his leg.
Then took a deep breath.
Everything felt perfect.
Better than perfect.
“What kind of ability was that?” Clint looked completely lost.
Calvin adopted a melancholy expression.
“A blessing from the God of Overworked Employees.” Both agents stared at him.
Calvin continued solemnly.
“So long as you dedicate yourself completely to your job, sacrifice your personal time, and remain a loyal corporate workhorse, you’ll be blessed with miraculous healing.” He nodded.
“Perfect attendance guaranteed.” Clint was silent.
Natasha was silent.
Neither had any idea what to do with that explanation.
“Whatever.” Calvin turned and started moving through the tunnel.
“We need to get out, report to Fury, and figure out the next step.” Clint followed him.
“Shouldn’t we finish Blonsky?
He’s still alive.” “Not important.” Calvin waved him off.
“Getting you to safety comes first.” There was no chance Calvin was going back to finish Blonsky.
That man was almost certainly destined to become the Abomination.
Which meant there was a very good chance the system would classify him as a boss later.
Why kill a future boss before the boss mission triggered?
That would be throwing away free rewards.
The three soon emerged from the far end of the tunnel.
Almost the moment they reached open air— ROOOOOAAAAR!
A monstrous roar erupted from Culver University.
It sounded like something prehistoric had awakened beneath the campus.
Calvin’s eyes immediately brightened.
He started running back toward the university while calling Fury.
“Director, Hawkeye’s out.” “He’s safe and completely healthy.” “Excellent work, Agent Calvin.” For once, Fury sounded genuinely relieved.
The system notification followed.
[Mission: Rescue Operation — Complete.] [Rewards Obtained: EXP +2,000.] [Clint Barton Favorability +10.] [Natasha Romanoff Favorability +40.] [Item Obtained: TNT ×99.] [Item Obtained: Invisibility Cloak.] [TNT: Extremely powerful explosive blocks.
Detonation timing can be controlled mentally.] [Invisibility Cloak: Anything covered by the cloak becomes invisible.] Calvin barely finished reading before asking, “What’s next?” Fury responded immediately.
“Did Barton determine Banner’s location?” Calvin had just vaulted onto the wall surrounding Culver University.
From his elevated position, he had a perfect view of the campus.
A massive figure was currently smashing a tank apart.
Green skin.
Huge muscles.
And strangely enough, streaks of red.
“Uh…” Calvin watched another piece of armored vehicle go flying.
“I think I found him.” He narrowed his eyes.
“He’s green.” A pause.
“Although somebody appears to have added a little red.” “Motherfucker!” Fury’s shout exploded through the phone.
“What the hell did Ross do now?!” Fury had never imagined Ross would be insane enough to incorporate vampire genetics into the Hulk project.
He forced himself to calm down.
Then his voice became controlled again.
“Agent Calvin.” “Can you subdue Hulk in his current state?” “If you can, bring Banner back to S.H.I.E.L.D.” “If you can’t, disengage immediately and get your team out.” Banner had always been part of Fury’s long-term plans.
But Calvin was already an extraordinarily valuable operative under S.H.I.E.L.D.’s control.
Fury knew the difference between a potential asset and one already in his hands.
A new system notification appeared.
[Nick Fury has issued you a mission.] [Mission: Rampaging Hulk] [Objective: Subdue Hulk and bring him back to S.H.I.E.L.D.] [Rewards: EXP +5,000, Nick Fury Favorability +10, Random Items ×3.] Calvin grinned.
“Director, trust me.” Then he added, “And remember the bonus.” He ended the call and looked toward the sky.
The sun was nearly directly overhead.
High noon was only moments away.
The strongest part of his day was about to begin.