After a backflip, Hawkeye half-kneeled on the ground, looking up at Batman, who stood in front of him. Behind Batman, another figure emerged—a man in a green suit holding a bow and arrow.
Hawkeye felt an unmistakable presence emanating from this newcomer, a sensation that mirrored his own.
"...Your opponent is me."
The man in the green suit spoke coldly as he stepped forward, passing by Batman and locking eyes with Hawkeye.
"Who is he?"
Behind Hawkeye, Natasha and Coulson exchanged surprised glances.
"Who are you?" Hawkeye asked, his tone icy and deliberate.
"Green Arrow," the man replied calmly.
"Wait, this guy looks familiar!" Natasha muttered, narrowing her eyes. Her time spent working in DC flashed through her mind, and recent memories clicked into place.
She recognized the green suit and bow as part of a comic book character her company had recently promoted.
"Green Arrow!" she exclaimed.
Hearing the name, Coulson frowned in confusion. Unlike Natasha, he wasn't into comics or novels and was completely unfamiliar with the name.
"Who's Green Arrow?" he asked.
"Oliver Queen," Natasha explained, shaking off her initial shock. "In the story, he's a rich kid who gets stranded on a desert island. He hones his skills there and eventually returns home to become a superhero. Think of him as a... lower-budget version of Batman."
"Sounds a bit similar," Coulson admitted. He'd taken the time to watch Batman Begins to better understand Batman, so he could draw some parallels.
"So, not just Batman—now even Green Arrow isn't just a comic character?" Coulson muttered, visibly unsettled. He stared at the man in the green suit, frowning deeply.
"Who is this guy? First Batman, now Green Arrow... What kind of secrets is this DC company hiding? And what's Anton's role in all of this?"
Coulson's voice dropped to a whisper, his expression serious. Until now, he thought they'd uncovered at least half of Anton's mysteries, but this development made it clear Anton was hiding far more than they'd realized.
"Maybe we've only seen the tip of the iceberg," Coulson mused, growing suspicious. For a brief moment, he even wondered if Anton might actually be Batman.
In truth, S.H.I.E.L.D. had long suspected Anton of being Batman. After piecing together clues over time, they'd almost narrowed it down to him. However, before they could take decisive action, this unexpected curveball had appeared.
Now there was Green Arrow.
"Are they really playing dress-up with these roles?" Coulson thought bitterly. The deeper he dug, the more convoluted the situation became. Resolving to get to the bottom of it, he made a mental note to investigate DC thoroughly after this.
"Green Arrow..."
Hawkeye repeated the name, ignoring the murmured conversation between Natasha and Coulson behind him. His focus remained locked on the man in front of him.
There was something unnervingly familiar about Green Arrow—a feeling of kinship laced with competition.
Batman and Hawkeye were worlds apart, fundamentally different in their approach and skills. But Green Arrow? He felt like someone from the same world.
Among equals, the strongest stands tallest.
The tension in the air was palpable, charged with anticipation. Their eyes met, sparks seemingly flying between them. The confrontation was inevitable.
The battle was about to begin.
Hawkeye grabbed the bow and arrow from his back, moved swiftly, and assumed a fighting stance. "Leave the battlefield to them," he said firmly.
Batman, seemingly oblivious to the tension, ignored the impending clash and walked toward Hawkeye. Without so much as a glance at him, he addressed Coulson and Natasha. "We need to have a proper talk, Coulson."
Anton's gaze lingered on Natasha for a moment before shifting back to Coulson.
"Please, come in."
Coulson opened the door, gesturing for Batman to enter. Natasha glanced at Hawkeye but showed little concern, then followed Batman and Coulson inside.
The confrontation between Hawkeye and Green Arrow was inevitable.
Hawkeye's simmering resentment toward Batman, paired with Batman's apparent indifference, had fueled his frustration. Now, his anger had shifted to Arrow.
'I can't beat Batman, but you?'
Though Hawkeye begrudgingly admitted the gap in skill between himself and Batman, facing Arrow was a different matter. To him, Arrow appeared to be nothing more than Batman's lackey—a "little brother" taking orders.
'Sidekick can't possibly be better than Batman! If I can't even beat you, I might as well go home and take up babysitting.'
Determined, Hawkeye drew an arrow, aiming directly at Arrow.
Arrow mirrored the movement, drawing his own weapon in perfect sync.
Whoosh!
Both released their arrows simultaneously. The sharp hiss of the arrows breaking through the air filled the battlefield. Yet, neither flinched. Instead, they walked directly toward each other, heads tilting just enough to evade the incoming arrows.
Their movements were eerily synchronized as they reached back, pulled another arrow from their quivers, aimed, and fired again.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Arrows zipped past their ears, but neither retreated. Step by step, they closed the distance until they were finally face-to-face.
Boom!
The moment for arrows passed. They dropped their bows and engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
Inside the house...
Batman, Coulson, and Natasha began their conversation in the living room.
"I'll be clear about this," Anton said, his tone direct and firm. "I'm not interested in your security bureau. Whatever plans you have, don't count me in."
"To be precise," Coulson replied with a polite smile, "we're called S.H.I.E.L.D. Our director is assembling a superhero team, and we'd like to invite you to be the captain. Whatever your stance is, I hope you'll consider it."
"Superhero team?" Anton echoed, his expression unreadable.
After a pause, he revealed something unexpected. "I've already joined another team. I can't join yours."
"What?" Coulson's composure faltered, his expression shifting to disbelief. "May I ask when this happened?"
"Not long ago," Anton replied calmly.
"Is it convenient to disclose the details? Perhaps the team's purpose?" Coulson pressed, hesitating slightly.
"We share the same purpose," Anton said evenly. "To address critical crises—just like the ones you're concerned about. Threats from... beyond this world."
Midway through Anton's sentence, Coulson's pupils contracted. He stared at Batman in shock.
Those words... they mirrored the warnings Coulson had only ever heard from Nick Fury. It brought back memories of a monumental crisis in the 1990s, one that had been classified at the highest levels of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Only a select few within the agency had the clearance to access the details.
Coulson, as a partial participant in that event, understood its gravity. He knew how carefully the current director—and the mysterious figure who resolved that crisis—had guarded this information.
But how could Batman possibly know about it?
This information was a tightly held secret. Among S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, those with partial knowledge could be counted on two hands. Those with detailed knowledge? On one hand.
So, who was Batman? And where was he getting his intel?
…
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