The Weakest Link in the Chain, Part 1

Chapter One: Once an Avenger
By C.M. King

“Oh yeah! This is what it’s all about…,” thinks Hawkeye to himself as he walks down the busy Manhattan sidewalk in all his purple-clad glory. Passersby stare, gossip to each other, and point excitedly at the famous Avenger. His smile grows with each passing pair of curious eyes on him. “…the adulation of the public, the roar of the crowd. It makes facin’ badies like Ultron worth all the pain. I’m glad I gave into the impulse to go strutting in the old uniform today.” The Avenger feels at home here among his admirers on this warm afternoon. More at home than he would behind the walls of Avengers Mansion itself.

However, as he passes a small side-street, Hawkeye’s peace turns out to be short lived. From an old warehouse a block away, Clint sees a clearly distressed woman charge out its front door and tumble down to the pavement in front. She sees the hero and screams out, “Help! Please, oh God. Help me!” Hawkeye turns in her direction as the woman staggers back to her feet. But before the hero can do more than take a couple steps toward her, a white-gloved hand reaches out of the open warehouse door and grabs the woman violently. In one blurring motion, the sinister hand yanks the female back through the door …then slams it shut. His sprint across the alley takes Hawkeye only seconds, and is not slowed at all by the stringing of the shock arrow he accomplishes at the same time. “All right, hero. It’s time to earn your fame,” thinks the bowman to himself as he sports a darkly determined face. Hawkeye crashes through a side window of the warehouse thinking, “Whoever’s causing this trouble didn’t count on the world’s greatest archer getting involved. Still, I gotta be prepared for anything.”

The Avenger lands crouched, arrow drawn, and ready for action. However, what he sees baffles him. Four figures stand around him arms folded, smiling at the adventurer. One of them has white gloves, a mustache, goatee, and an unfamiliar costume. Two other costumed (and just as unfamiliar) men stand near the first man. One wears a red costume while the other sports a bizarre looking armored outfit. Moreover, on the other side of the white-gloved villain stands the woman he rushed in to rescue. She seems far from a victim now as she beams at Clint with a malicious grin. “Whoa! Looks like ole’ Hawk’s been snookered,” thinks the archer as he gulps.

“Good evening, Hawkeye. We’ve been waiting for you. I’m afraid you will find any signal devices quite useless in here. You see, you are very much at the complete mercy of Othello D’Vem and his Malevolence Union.” Upon finishing his statement, the mustached villain gestures to his two costumed companions. “However, only two from my organization are required to deal with this Avenger.” Othello takes the woman by the arm courtingly, and the two walk away arm-in-arm from the stunned archer. “Come my dear, we are through here. Our colleagues will bring our purple-garbed prize to us after he has been subdued.” The couple begins to glow briefly … and then both disappear magically. “We shall await your arrival, Avenger.”

Hawkeye holds his head in disbelief at first, and then once more tenses his bow. “Runnin’ out on me, eh? Not only do I fall into a trap, but I get insulted to boot. I guess I’ll just take my frustration out on you guys then.” He turns back determinedly to the two villains.

The armored foe flies up into the air with the help of two small, round metal disks underneath each of his feet. “Not so fast, hero. I think it’s time I introduced myself.” In response, Hawkeye fires two arrows in the flying man’s direction. “Your name’s Mud to me, flyboy! I want to talk to Mr. Mustache again. And if I have to go through you to get to him, fine by me!”

Hawkeye’s flying foe waves his hands a little and three round, flat metal shields form in front of him from pieces of his own armor. The two fired shafts explode harmlessly against the floating shields. “Not so fast, Jabronie! … My name’s Thulkon,” cackles the villain. “I have these telekinetic powers. Thing is, they only work on this metal called mentallium. Fortunately, it’s the same stuff my armor is made out of.” As if in response to Thulkon’s words, the metal shields start to dissolve and transform. “I can do more than just make it fly around too.” The shields slowly become four long objects. “I can make it take any shape I choose.” Before Hawkeye’s startled eyes, the metal has transformed into four, long, floating daggers. “Like so!” With a wave of his hand, the daggers speed toward the startled archer.

“Oh mama!,” is all Hawk has time to blurt out before he is forced to dive behind a bunch of crates for safety. Thinking he is safe for at least a minute, Hawkeye wipes some sweat away from his brow. However, he is shocked back to reality when he witnesses the blades turn in midair and start to follow him again. “Holleee! These bozos are for real!,” thinks Hawkeye to himself as he deftly sidesteps the daggers while reaching into his quiver for another arrow. “If I want to remain the idol of millions, I need to get off the defensive…” Clint fires the shaft in Thulkon’s direction. “…And take some initiative!”

The smoke arrow explodes yards in front of the villain rendering him blind to anything around him. Yet, before Thulkon can plan his next move, a second arrow (this one a thick metal one) comes flying in through the smoke cloud and cracks him across the head. The low thud tells Hawkeye that his opponent has fallen to the floor. “Nothing like a good ‘crowbar’ arrow to do your dirty work. Now where is Thulkie’s sidekick?” As if in response to Clint’s question, a man flying at an amazingly high speed flies through the smoke cloud causing it to disperse. “Whoa! Speak of the Devil.”

“Thulkon may be an overconfident jerk, Hawkeye; but Red Wind isn’t half the pushover that fool was. Get ready for a beating!” The boisterous villain leaves a red trail in the air behind him as he flies. In one blurring motion, Hawkeye strings and fires a flash arrow at his approaching foe; temporarily blinding him. “What say we skip it and get right to the good-guy victory?,” taunts the archer back. With his next move, the Avenger turns and fires a blast arrow at the warehouse wall; blowing a hole in it. “I’m a lot less confident about this than I sound. This whole set-up favors the ambushers. A strategic retreat could even the odds back up.” Hawkeye turns again and fires an electro-shock arrow at the flying Red Wind. “But I’m not leaving until I give Reddy his goodnight kiss.”

Much to the archer’s dismay, Red Wind shows off his power by changing his flight direction then circling around after the arrow. “You’re an idiot to think you can beat my speed with these annoyances!” Astonishingly, Red Wind catches the arrow in midair. “I can match the swiftness of anything you can throw at me…” The arrow is flung back at the awed archer. “…And use it against you! …Speed kills, my friend.”

“Son of a Crud! What has America’s idol gotten himself into now?,” thinks Hawkeye to himself as he ducks the exploding arrow. Realizing that his foe way outclasses him in terms of power, the archer seeks the advantage of the high ground by climbing to the top of a stack of crates. Meanwhile, Red Wind brags on his strength by mowing down as many boxes as he can while he flies. “Haha … run all you wish to fool! There is no escape from someone this powerful!” Red Wind then turns his sights back to the hero, looking to mow him down as well. “I got you in my crosshairs. You’re gonna be the first hero killed by a human bullet!” Hawkeye waits until Red Wind is close enough… then … he tosses a concussion arrow in the villains direction from behind his back with his right hand.

“Awww, can it will ya?,” spouts the archer defiantly. “I may not be as powerful as you. But you don’t get to be an Avenger as long as I have without some smarts.” The look of abject horror on Red Wind’s face as he is unable to halt his progress, is contrasted sharply with Hawk’s mischievous grin as he hops down off the crate to safety as the arrow explodes with the desired effect.

“I better call the Avengers and let them know someone’s gunning for them,” thinks Hawkeye as he observes Red Wind’s unconscious form. “Wait, where did Thulkie go?,” thinks Hawk a second too late as three metal balls slam into him from behind. He slumps to the floor where blackness finally overtakes him.

NEXT: Remember the Man Who Destroyed the Avengers???