American Comics: Multiverse of Madness

190. The Shock of Songbird and Hawkeye.

Upon hearing the sudden voice, the ever-vigilant Hawkeye immediately prepared for combat. However, in the next moment, old Barton suddenly realized that the voice sounded familiar, a kind of familiarity buried deep within his mind, a voice he hadn't heard in a long time.

Barton's mind went blank for a moment, his eyes widened as he recognized the owner of the voice. But even then, he couldn't believe his own judgment. Slowly turning around, he saw a face identical to the one in his memory, along with that signature silver hair. Barton's pupils contracted, and even his breath caught in his throat. Standing before him was Pietro, holding the battle-worn Songbird in his arms.

"P-Pietro?!"

Songbird, Melissa, was equally stunned. She stood on her feet, staring at the young man who had just saved her. Her eyes were wide with disbelief, as if she had seen a ghost.

"Hello there," Pietro grinned.

Pietro now found great amusement in revealing himself to these heroes, as they all seemed to know him, and were familiar with his counterpart in this universe. This gave Pietro a thrill unlike any other.

"This is impossible! You were..."

Melissa covered her mouth with her hand as tears streamed down her aged face.

If there were anyone Melissa felt the most guilt towards in her life, it would have to be the West Coast Avengers. After all, she had silently allowed the betrayal, watching helplessly as these heroes died before her eyes. One of them was this universe's Quicksilver, Pietro!

Melissa could never forget that moment. When Scarlet Witch was killed by Magneto, the grief-stricken Quicksilver froze in place, giving Sandman the chance to crush his legs.

As other heroes fell one by one due to the Thunderbolts' betrayal, Quicksilver, filled with hatred, cursed loudly at the Thunderbolts before his death. The look of murderous rage in his eyes had haunted Melissa's nightmares ever since. That furious face now merged with the Pietro standing before Melissa, causing her to take two steps back, unable to stop her tears.

"Stand back, Songbird! That's not the Pietro you knew. I'm guessing this guy's a stray Skrull!"

Though shocked, Barton quickly recovered, drawing his bow and aiming an arrow straight at Pietro's head. His eyes were filled with anger as he gritted his teeth and said,

"Kid, you shouldn't disrespect the dead. Now, take off that disguise! Or this will be the last face you ever see!"

"Dad, stop!"

Just then, a voice called out from the distance. A figure shot out from the forest, using webs to quickly swing towards Hawkeye and the others.

Hearing another familiar voice, Barton's hand, which held the bow, trembled slightly. He turned his head in shock to see a masked girl with agile movements. For a moment, Hawkeye thought he was hallucinating.

"Ashley?"

But Barton quickly dismissed that thought. His beloved daughter was still with his ex-wife; there was no way she could have made the long journey to the Canadian border. It was simply impossible.

"Who the hell are you people!?"

"Don't you recognize me?"

Ashley landed steadily on the ground, and the symbiote mask peeled back, revealing Ashley's face. Though her expression was slightly unnatural, she still asked in return.

"You…"

Barton opened his mouth, utterly confused by the scene before him. Encountering a Sentinel here was already absurd, and then the sudden appearance of a supposedly dead Quicksilver and his daughter made no sense at all.

It was hard not to wonder if he was hallucinating, especially for someone as experienced as Hawkeye, who had seen almost everything. He began to suspect that he had been somehow tricked by the enemy. Fortunately, Alex appeared at that moment, dispelling the doubts and concerns lingering in Barton's heart.

"Long time no see, Mr. Barton." Alex, accompanied by Kara, walked over leisurely.

"It's you!"

Though Barton's eyesight wasn't great, he could never forget Alex. He instantly recognized the young wizard who had subdued him with a single spell.

"You remember me, 'old friend'? Then there's no need for introductions."

Alex smiled slightly, then turned his gaze to the elderly woman.

To his surprise, Barton's partner had changed from the second-generation Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, to Songbird. However, in a way, it was a good thing. It was better for Songbird to make a comeback than to die at the hands of Bullseye.

"What brings you here? Wait, hold on… I remember you saying you…"

Barton seemed to recall something and suddenly froze. Then, he turned to look at Pietro, his voice trembling as he asked,

"… So, so he's also…"

Noticing Barton's gaze, Pietro flashed a bright smile.

Barton's eyes widened. "So you didn't come here alone!?"

Songbird might not have understood the cryptic exchange between Barton and Alex, but the others did. Clearly, Alex had revealed his identity as a traveler from another world to Barton, but what Barton didn't know was that Alex wasn't the only one.

"As I said before, during our first meeting, while you didn't trust me, I also didn't trust you. So naturally, I wasn't going to reveal everything about myself, even if you were a hero in your world. After all, in different universes, I couldn't be sure what you truly were."

Alex replied casually as he approached Barton, glancing at the weeping Songbird before continuing. "Mr. Barton, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Oh, this is Melissa, codenamed Songbird." Barton rubbed his eyes and lowered his bow.

But Melissa seemed lost in her own world, not reacting at all to the arrival of Alex and the others. She simply stared at Pietro, muttering apologies under her breath. Having not experienced the events of this world, Pietro wasn't entirely familiar with the Old War's proceedings, so he didn't quite know how to react. So Pietro just supported Songbird and softly comforted her.

Taking advantage of this moment, Barton glanced around, his gaze sweeping over everyone's faces before finally settling on Alex.

"… I need to talk to you."

With that, Barton stepped forward, grabbed Alex, and pulled him aside.

...…..

📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: /Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
191. Another Conversation with Hawkeye.
192. New Clues.
193. About Moonstone.
194. Don’t Bother.
195. The Death of Moonstone.