American Comics: Multiverse of Madness

191. Another Conversation with Hawkeye.

Following old Barton to the remnants of the Sentinel robot, they finally stopped.

"Why are you here?"

Looking at Alex's calm face, old Barton asked the question he most wanted to know.

"Because of Moonstone. Isn't that the candidate you recommended to me?"

Alex shrugged, but it was clear that old Barton wasn't satisfied with this answer. He glared at Alex and said in a low voice, "Don't play dumb with me. You know that's not what I mean. Who exactly are you? Why did you come to this universe? And what's the deal with that Quicksilver and that dark-haired girl?"

Seeing Barton's somewhat agitated reaction, Alex couldn't help but smile. He slowly shook his head and pondered before responding.

"You're curious about a lot of things. I know you're intrigued by my background and motives, but believe me, now is not the best time to lay everything out for you. All you need to know is that my goal is to change this wasteland, to restore it to what it used to be."

"What about Pietro? Can't you at least explain that? Are you really from another universe? I feel like you're more like someone who traveled here from a timeline forty years ago."

"Don't be ridiculous. The timeline of this world is already fixed. Time travel isn't as easy as you think. Any mistake could create an illogical time branch, and you know the consequences better than I do."

Alex looked directly at Clint Barton, paused for a moment, and then continued.

"As for Pietro, you're pretty much right. He doesn't come from the universe you're familiar with. He may resemble the Quicksilver you knew, but he's not the same person, neither in personality nor experience."

Hearing this, old Barton fell silent, seemingly processing the massive amount of information in Alex's words. He gazed in the direction of Pietro and the others. After a while, Barton withdrew his gaze and continued.

"What about Ashley? You know that's my daughter. She's still a child and shouldn't be involved in this kind of danger. Alex, I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation!"

"I know she's your daughter, but Barton, ask yourself, do you really know her?" Alex countered.

"Don't try that on me!"

A flash of coldness crossed Barton's eyes. He stared at Alex, his tone unfriendly.

"My relationship with her is not something for an outsider like you to comment on. I just want her to grow up safely, not to get involved in danger so early. This isn't her fight, and she shouldn't be involved."

"Oh, you think you've protected her well, huh? Do you even know she's been hanging around with gang members since she was young? I don't see any trace of 'hero' in her."

Seeing Hawkeye's growing frustration, Alex crossed his arms and continued.

"Don't glare at me like that. If you really care about Ashley, you should be stricter with her. I don't know if your leniency is because of guilt or something else, but what I do know is that this girl is getting more and more out of control!

She dared to fight me with her broken spider sense and super strength. Now, with Venom, she doesn't respect anyone. If it wasn't for me, she would've died in Oscorp City."

"What did you say!?" Hawkeye froze.

Listening to Alex's account, old Barton suddenly felt like he didn't know Ashley at all. The daughter he cherished most in his heart now seemed so unfamiliar. Old Barton felt his brain stalling. Ashley's drastic change caught him completely off guard.

"She inherited Peter Parker's superpowers? That's actually a good thing... But what about Venom? No way, I can't let that parasite take over my daughter's body!"

Barton clenched his fists and turned, ready to deal with Venom and force it out of Ashley's body. Others might not know, but Barton was well aware of Venom. After wandering the wasteland for so many years, he'd heard plenty of horror stories involving Venom. So many lives were destroyed by that thing.

"Don't rush. Venom isn't the problem right now." Alex quickly grabbed Barton.

When Alex pulled him back, old Barton instinctively tried to break free, but Alex's strength had already surpassed what it used to be, and Barton couldn't shake him off.

"What do you mean? That's Venom! That disgusting thing messes with people's minds. Don't you realize how repulsive it is? And if you knew Ashley was bonded with Venom, why didn't you do something about it?"

"I already did. Otherwise, how do you think your daughter is still here, calling you Dad?"

After a pause, Alex posed two questions.

"So, I'm telling you, you don't really understand your daughter. Do you think you can just rush in and solve the Venom problem? Even if you succeed, would Ashley agree with your decision?"

"She has to, whether she likes it or not!"

Hawkeye firmly stated.

"I'll convince her. She doesn't understand how troublesome Venom really is."

"And then you two will have a big fight and part ways on bad terms, just like before?"

Alex calmly asked.

At these words, Barton's body trembled. His once upright posture now appeared somewhat hunched. Ashley had always been Barton's deepest wound. He opened his mouth but couldn't find the words. In the end, he just let out a heavy sigh.

"Enough. You should take a break. Ashley can't fully use Spider-Man's abilities right now, but with Venom's help, she's at least carrying on Spider-Man's legacy. Plus, she's safer. I know you're worried about Venom, but I can keep it under control, trust me on that."

"Are you sure?"

"We've made it this far, and it's been behaving well. If you don't believe me, have a chat with it later."

Hearing this, Barton sighed again. For some reason, Hawkeye now felt his daughter was drifting further and further away from him. If Ashley had been pushing him away before, now she seemed like a completely different person, full of secrets.

After a moment of silence, old Barton slowly raised his head, looking at Alex, and asked again.

"What happened in Oscorp City?"

"Oscorp, you know, that guy has never been satisfied. He formed a group of villains and declared war on the so-called heroes of the wasteland. Lorelei was one of them, and she's also one of the targets you told me about. As for Ashley, she was planning to take down Oscorp's regime all by herself."

"Ashley... she's a good kid. I've always believed she would inherit the qualities of a hero and lead people to resist those villains..." old Barton said with relief in his voice.

But Alex chose not to respond to this, instead continuing.

"Let's not dwell on this. This time, our goals align. We're both here for the Moonstone. If you want to know more, let's deal with the Moonstone first. After all, we're on the border of Red Skull and Master of the World's territory, not exactly a safe place."

...…..

20 advanced chapters on p@treaon
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192. New Clues.
193. About Moonstone.
194. Don't Bother.
195. The Death of Moonstone.
196. Red Skull.