This is the first story arc of my fanfiction, Hawkeye: The Series. It was originally posted on Fanfiction.Net.
Hawkeye: the Series
Before I start, I'm going to give a little info on this fanfic. This is my idea of what should happen if Hawkeye got his own TV show (which, unfortunately, is unlikely to actually happen). The story takes place in the same universe as the Earth's Mightiest Heroes show.
Episode 1: The Reaper Returns
The mighty villains known as the Wrecking Crew had returned to the city. They were currently in battle with the Avengers.
"The Avengers," the Wrecker scoffed, bludgeoning Iron Man with his crowbar. "You guys are-"
"I think the word you're looking for is AWESOME!" a voice rang out.
A projectile hit the crowbar and exploded, splashing corrosive liquid all over it. The Wrecker screamed as some of the liquid splashed over his face. As the villain regained his wits, someone jumped onto his head and bounced back off. The man then pulled out a long weapon and smacked the Wrecker in the face with it.
"And where have you been?" the armored avenger growled.
"Skycycle broke down while I was flying," said the man, pulling a piece of metal out of one of the ears attached to the mask of his purple costume, his other hand slinging the bow he had smacked the Wrecker with across his back.
"I swear, Hawkeye, you're the only one who actually comes late to his fights!"
"I stop to smell the roses, Tony."
"Which explains why nobody remembers your name."
"HEY!"
Meanwhile, Captain America, Black Panther, Vision, Wasp, Yellowjacket and had finished off their combatants and were watching.
"Should we stop this?" asked Vision.
"Nah, let's see who wins this argument," replied Wasp, giggling. "It's pretty entertaining."
Vision turned to the Panther.
"I am actually with Wasp on this one." He said.
Vision sighed.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"What's he doing in there?"
"The prisoner? Doing what he always does. Tinkering on something."
The prisoner growled. It had been months since he had been captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and placed in their replacement RAFT. He still hated it. But he wouldn't be there for long.
"Hey, buddy!" one of the two S.H.I.E.L.D. guards stationed at his cell called, "Even if you're rebuilding that toy of yours, it's not gonna get you outa here! Don't expect another surprise breakout any time soon!"
"Well," the prisoner said back, "I don't know about a full-house breakout, but I think my new 'toy' is actually quite capable of getting me out of here. I've made some improvements on this model."
"Wha-"
The prisoner swung his weapon. A wave of energy shot from it. When the wave passed the wall of energy separating the cell from the outside world, the wall fizzled and winked out. The two guards were blasted backwards into the wall of an empty cell, and the energy wall shocked them into unconsciousness. The prisoner walked leisurely out of the cell. He then grabbed one of the guards and took a communicator out of his ear. He hacked the device and set the communicator to a special frequency.
"Contacting HYDRA Island, please respond.
The voice of HYDRA's leader, Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker, filled his ears. But it wasn't a live response. It was a recording.
"Hello, loyal agent of HYDRA. You appear to have missed something very important. I will inform you. One day, the Avengers invaded HYDRA Island."
The former prisoner knew this. He had been knocked out during the ensuing battle.
"In the aftermath, unfortunately, HYDRA Island was lost."
The former prisoner was shocked. HYDRA Island, destroyed? Who had done this deed?
"Our headquarters were destroyed by… the Avenger Hawkeye"
"Hawkeye…" the man growled. "I swear, in the great name of HYDRA, I will end your life! ... but first I should probably leave before more guards show up."
The villain threw the communicator to the ground. He turned away with a flick of his cyborg arm, which was also his greatest weapon, a long, curved blade.
The Grim Reaper's hunt for vengeance began.
TITLE REEL
"I cannot believe I missed a battle against the Wrecking Crew!" Thor exclaimed to Wasp back at Avengers Mansion. "I have been wishing to defeat them since they insulted the mighty Mjolnir the last time we met! Why did you not contact me with Stark's annoying beeping card?"
"Tony thought he shouldn't bother you," she replied, "ya know, you being on a date and all. How was it, by the way?"
"I believe this 'date', as you refer to it, went quite well." Thor looked up at the ceiling. "What is that shouting?"
"Tony and Hawkeye are trying to repair a broken skycycle," Wasp replied in a bored voice.
They listened to the argument upstairs.
"That pipe's too loose."
"Listen Clint, if I want archery lessons, I'll come find you. But you will not school me in mechanics!"
"Yelling at me won't make the pipe any tighter."
"Clint, I-"
BA-DANG!
"Told ya."
"I hate you, Hawkeye."
Thor and Wasp laughed. Then their ID cards started beeping.
They looked at their cards and saw Black Panther's face on the tiny screen.
"Avengers…ah, eeh…Asse…gah…Assemble!"
::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Tony…"
"I don't need tech help, Hawkeye!"
"You know what? You may be great at creating your fancy suits, but I think I'd be better at building my own bike! So if you aren't going to build the thing my way, you can leave!"
"Clint-"
"You know what your problem is? You hate listening to other peoples' commands! You want to be in charge of all of us again, don't you?"
"You're going to lecture me on following-"
"Yes, Tony, I am! You have no right to be commanding us! You passed leadership on to Cap, and even so, this isn't a battlefield! Stop acting like you can push the avengers around all the time! You're not in charge!"
"I have still been left in charge of the active Avengers roster by Cap!"
"Is that a threat? Are you threatening to fire me? This is ridiculous! I can't work with this anymore! I quit!"
Then there was an icy silence. An icy silence during which both heroes realized their ID cards were beeping.
"Like I said," Hawkeye growled, handing Tony the beeping card, "I quit."
He walked away, feeling Tony's eyes burning into the back of his head.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Friend Hawkeye!" called Thor, "Come! We must do battle against whatever evil curses the Black Panther!"
"Not today, Thor," growled Hawkeye, shoving past the thunder god and walking out the door.
"Um, Tony?" Wasp turned to the inventor, who had suited up. "What's up with Clint?"
"He quit."
"Oh, OK… Wait, he QUIT?" Wasp was astounded. "Hawkeye quit the Avengers? But he's the most loyal guy on the team!"
"Um…" Cap was already at the door to the quinjet dock, but had noticed that Iron Man and Wasp were standing in the middle of the room. "Avengers? Why aren't we all assembled?"
"I need to go do something right now," Wasp said apologetically. "It's for a good cause."
Captain America raised an eyebrow, but he said "Fine… Tony?"
"Coming," Iron Man replied.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hawkeye trudged through an alleyway.
"Hey!" a street punk called as the archer pushed past him and his friends. "This here's our territory, arrow-man!"
He grabbed Clint's shoulder, only for the former Avenger to shove him off. The thug tried to punch Hawkeye in the back of the head, but the hero grabbed his hand and twisted. The man screamed as Clint heard a satisfying crack.
"Anyone else?" he asked as he pushed the punk away from him and continued on his merry way.
"T'Challa!" Cap called as he walked through the street where Panther's card's locator was detected.
Yellowjacket walked next to him. "Where is everybody?" he asked, looking around the empty neighborhood.
"Probably hiding from lil' old me," a voice behind them said.
The two heroes turned to see none other than the Grim Reaper.
"YOU'RE the reason we're here?" scoffed Yellowjacket. "Didn't Panther and Cap take you down and send you to S.H.I.E.L.D. already?"
"Don't remind me," Reaper growled.
"Don't underestimate him, either," warned Cap.
"Listen to him, bug," the villain said, "because now, the Grim Reaper is better and badder than ever!"
::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Look!" a street thug called in the same alley that Clint had gone down earlier. "Here comes another one!"
"Clint! Hawkeye!" Jan called. When the thugs surrounded her, she simply shrunk down and flew off, but not before putting a few street punks in line with her stingers.
Eventually, she found the person she was looking for. "Clint! There you are!"
"What do you want, Wasp?"
"I… I was just worried. You just up and left. I thought you liked being on the team."
"I did."
"But-"
"You think this isn't hard for me? This is the worst day of my life. But I can't handle Stark anymore. Treating us this way, when he's not even leader anymore. I'm not like you, Jan. It only takes so much for me to snap."
Hawkeye's ID card rang.
The archer sighed and held up the device. "I THOUGHT YOU HEARD ME! I SAID I QU- huh?"
"Hawkeye," the Grim Reaper's image said, "I noticed you weren't with the others."
"The- what have you done to the Avengers?!"
"They're fine. See if you can get to them."
With that, the screen on the card went dark.
Wasp flipped out.
"Oh no! He's got them all! He's got Tony and Cap and T'Challa and Hank and all the others! What do we do?! Whadowedowhadowedowhadowedowhadowe-"
"WASP, SHUT UP! I'M TRYIN' TA THINK HERE!"
"Oh…sorry. Wait, you're going to think this through?"
"Yep, so let me come up with a plan."
"Okay…"
"Hmmm…the Reaper acted as though he didn't notice you. Or even remember you at all…"
"Don't remind me." Wasp hated when people forgot about her or Hawkeye or Hank, just because they weren't as noticeable.
"Hmmm…" Hawkeye smiled. "I've got a plan."
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Clint flew around town on an older model of his skycycle. His ID card started beeping and Wasp appeared on the screen.
"Hawkeye, I found them," she said, as Clint noticed a tear run down her face, "It's terrible. Reaper's somehow mind-controlling Hank, Tony, Hulk, and Carol. He deactivated Vision, he's knocked out Thor and he's using the brainwashed guys to beat up Cap and Panther."
"That makes sense," Hawkeye said, "Those two captured him at the HYDRA Island fight. Where are you?"
"The machine shop near the intersection of Barney Street and Ronin Avenue."
"I'll be there soon. Just sit tight and watch."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Hey, look!" said Reaper, holding up Cap's shield, "I'm captain HYDRA!"
"Jerk," Cap muttered, unable to move since he was tied to a support beam.
"You don't say," Panther muttered back, similarly incapacitated.
"SHUT UP!" Reaper yelled.
"Now that…" a voice said, "is not a nice thing to say."
"HA! FINALLY!" Reaper yelled enthusiastically. "Show yourself, Hawkeye. Die before a worthy opponent, like the hero you think you are!"
"I am a hero, even if you're too stupid to know what a hero is," Hawkeye said stepping out of the shadows, "And I'm not gonna keel over and die. Not today."
"Look around, Hawkeye! You're outnumbered."
"That's what you think."
Reaper's back was to his prisoners, but Hawkeye saw Vision's eyes glow to life.
The Grim Reaper chuckled. "Hawkeye, you can't fool me. You are the last Avenger."
"Second to last, actually," said a voiced behind the villain.
Reaper turned around and was met by a tiny glowing fist a foot from his face.
"Janet Van Dyne, at your service," said Wasp, feeling good after freeing her friends behind Reaper's back.
She stopped feeling so good after Ms. Marvel blasted her.
"Avengers…" Reaper said smugly, "Assemble."
The Reaper turned and tried to take Hawkeye off guard with an energy blast. The archer flipped over the blast with ease.
"Figured you'd made some upgrades," he said with a smirk, "but I'm still gonna stop you."
Meanwhile, the other Avengers battled each other.
(Note from the author: this scene will flip between what is happening to Hawkeye and what is happening to the other Avengers. Sorry if it's confusing.)
Captain America leaped nimbly around the Hulk as he threw his fists around angrily. Hulk's reflexes aren't as good as they are normally, Cap realized. The super-soldier flipped over the monster's head and poked a pressure point on Hulk's neck, making the beast pass out.
"Normally, Hulk wouldn't be taken down that easily," noted Cap, "Looks like Reaper's tech could use some work."
"You're inferior, Hawkeye," shouted the Grim Reaper, as he held his scythe across the archer's throat.
Wasp flew around blasts shot by Ms. Marvel, while Black Panther battled Yellowjacket.
"Trade?" Wasp suggested.
"Why not?"
Wasp flew towards Panther, and Ms. Marvel followed. T'Challa kicked Yellowjacket in the chest one more time, then somersaulted backwards and landed on Ms. Marvel's back, knocking her to the ground. Wasp flew directly at Yellowjacket, grew to full size, and punched him in the face.
"Sorry, hank," she said.
Using his lightning-fast reflexes, Hawkeye pulled an arrow out of his quiver and smacked Reaper on the head with it, activating the smoke bomb inside.
Iron Man rocketed toward Vision.
"Do you know what I miss about Iron Man?" the android asked.
Vision turned intangible and Tony flew right into a wall.
"He was smart."
Hawkeye's smokescreen fell around the Grim Reaper.
"I may not be able to see," the villain yelled, "but you can't either!"
"Says who?"
"How could you possibly see through this?"
An arrow hit Reaper's scythe and exploded, throwing him back and out of the smoke cloud.
"Special lenses in my mask."
"You will not win!" Reaper yelled defiantly. "I will avenge HYDRA Island!"
"Okay, you realize that we destroyed that months ago, right?"
The smoke cloud dissipated, revealing Hawkeye with an arrow pointing directly at the Grim Reaper. The Reaper turned and saw Cap, Wasp, Panther, and Vision standing behind him.
"Looks like we're done here," said Wasp.
"Not quite," declared Hawkeye. "Where'd you get the brainwashing tech, Reaper?"
"HA!" Reaper laughed, "A contact gave them to me, not that you'll ever know who!"
The Reaper's scythe shot an energy blast at Wasp, Cap, Vision and Panther, throwing them back. The former HYDRA agent leapt over them and ran out of the machine shop. Hawkeye followed, but when he exited the shop, the Grim Reaper was nowhere to be seen.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Later, back at Avengers Mansion, Thor was glum about missing another fight.
"Trust me, pal," Hawkeye was saying, "I happily would've let you take down Reaper. And I'm pretty glad the mind control stuff didn't work on you."
"I wonder where he got the tech from," mused Cap.
Vision walked into the room, with Ms. Marvel, Tony, and Yellowjacket in tow.
"I have successfully removed the mind control," stated Vision.
The Avengers cheered.
"However," said Vision, "Iron Man, Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and Yellowjacket have suffered major psychological damage. In other words, they're unstable. I do not believe they should continue to fight on this team for a while. I already told them, and Hulk immediately set off for Canada."
"Canada?"
"I didn't understand either."
"Anyways," said Tony, "We have all agreed to stand down. At least, the three of us did. I don't know what Hulk's doing. Since I will no longer be an Avenger, I am passing the control of the Avengers' roster to Captain America. You may continue to use the mansion as a base of operations."
"Thank you, Tony," said Cap.
Tony nodded, and the three newly-retired heroes turned to leave.
"Hey, Stark! Wait!" called Hawkeye.
Tony stopped, surprised.
"I just wanted to apologize for earlier…"
"No," said Stark, "you were right. I can't function as a soldier. Thank you, for helping me realize that."
"Tony Stark," said Hawkeye, "Thank you. For standing by this team, and accepting me as an Avenger."
Tony nodded and left.
Hawkeye turned and looked to Wasp. "Thank you, Janet, for not giving up on me."
Wasp saluted him.
At that point, Hawkeye noticed something. "Why is everyone staring at me?"
"We…heard you were quitting," said Cap, "We thought you were leaving."
"Oh…yeah, I did quit, didn't I…well…I was thinking…if you want me around…"
"Let's put this to vote," replied Cap. "All in favor of keeping Clint Barton on the Avengers?"
"Aye."
"Aye."
"Aye."
"A-ee."
"It's 'aye', Vision."
"Sorry."
Hawkeye smiled. "Thanks, guys."
ROLL CREDITS
So, what do you think? Please comment.
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