'Whoosh—'
Hawkeye raised his bow without hesitation, releasing an arrow aimed straight at Kagura Hitomi.
'Zzt—'
However, to his surprise, a flash of blue electricity streaked across the air, knocking his arrow aside with precision.
"Hmm, using a bow does have a fatal flaw, Mr. Barton." Kagura Hitomi smiled as she lightly tapped the two advanced ADS active interception systems installed nearby.
"Arrows, you see, are just too big—so big that they can easily be intercepted by all sorts of unexpected things."
'Whoosh— Whoosh—'
Hawkeye didn't pause. He loosed two more arrows in quick succession.
'Zzt— Zzt—'
Once again, the ADS interception system responded, sending out precise bursts of blue energy, effortlessly neutralizing the incoming arrows.
Realizing his arrows were ineffective, Hawkeye decisively drew the pistol from his waist and fired.
'Bang! Bang! Bang!'
Even as the gunshots rang out, Kagura Hitomi gracefully leapt from the rooftop, vanishing mid-air.
[Full-Spectrum Electromagnetic Cloaking: Activated]
Hawkeye's expression froze as he witnessed Kagura disappearing before his eyes.
His face twisted in disbelief, but he quickly regained focus, scanning his surroundings with heightened vigilance.
The neural inhibitor gas was still taking effect.
He shook his head vigorously, struggling to maintain his combat awareness despite the disorienting sensation.
As expected of a top-tier agent on par with Natasha Romanoff, among all the armed personnel present, only Hawkeye remained combat-capable.
The others were either caught in confusion or had collapsed entirely, overwhelmed by the mental disruption.
However, unlike Hawkeye, who belonged to S.H.I.E.L.D., these armed individuals remained enemies—mercenaries, warlords, and soldiers from unidentified military organizations.
Even freed from mind control, they were still adversaries.
Above them, faint glimmers of light streaked through the dark blue sky—infantry suppression modules descending from the 'Halo' equipment station in low Earth orbit over North America.
Among the many auxiliary modules Kagura had designed for the "White Moon" combat suit, the anti-infantry module was relatively small in capacity.
After all, "White Moon" itself was already more than sufficient for anti-infantry operations in its default state.
This module provided two advanced ion-based automatic pistols, a vibranium longsword (the suit itself came with a vibranium dagger), and three anti-personnel grenades the size of lighters.
As the modules zipped past Hawkeye and his squad, they seamlessly merged into Kagura's cloaking field upon contact—vanishing entirely from sight.
"WTF? What the hell were those things?"
"Aagh!"
Before anyone could react, one of the armed men let out a scream, collapsing as if struck by an invisible force before losing consciousness.
"What the—"
"Whoosh!"
A small, coin-sized dart embedded itself into another soldier's body.
A powerful electric surge coursed through him, rendering him unconscious in an instant.
With her full-spectrum cloaking activated, Kagura was like a lone wolf among a flock of sheep.
The fully armed personnel stood no chance.
'Whoosh— Whoosh— Whoosh— Whoosh!'
Her twin pistols fired bursts of azure ion pulses, flickering like mesmerizing fireflies as they cut through the night air.
The girl wielding them danced elegantly through the battlefield, weaving effortlessly between her enemies with the grace of a performer lost in the rhythm of her own deadly ballet.
Hawkeye could only watch in disbelief as his "teammates" fell one after another, without even catching a glimpse of their attacker.
"Damn it…"
He nocked another arrow, trying to predict Kagura's movements.
Even though she had vanished completely, even suppressing the sound of her footsteps with specialized footwear, Hawkeye relied on more than just sight.
He focused on the subtle shifts in the air, the movement of dust particles, and the faintest tremors in the ground.
Through sheer instinct and experience, he barely managed to sense her presence.
The moment Kagura took down another armed opponent, Hawkeye turned abruptly and fired.
"Whoa!"
Kagura twisted her body, narrowly dodging the arrow.
In the same motion, she snatched it midair by the shaft before deactivating her cloak.
"You can counter stealth? That scared me!"
"Cheap tricks alone won't be enough to defeat me."
Hawkeye pulled another arrow from his quiver. "You're still too young, little girl."
"That's mean!" Kagura pouted. "Well, enough talk. Let's wrap this up."
[Short-Term Active Acceleration: Activated]
'Vrrm—!'
The instant Hawkeye released his arrow, Kagura dashed forward like a white bolt of lightning, slicing the arrow clean in half before slipping past him.
"What the—"
Before he could react, he noticed his bowstring had been severed.
"Watch your language!"
Kagura flicked her vibranium longsword before smoothly sheathing it.
In the same motion, she pivoted and delivered a powerful kick.
Hawkeye raised his arm to block, but the force sent him stumbling backward.
With his bowstring cut, his longbow was now just a glorified stick.
Kagura used his stagger to her advantage, leaping over him in a blur before landing behind him.
She drove her knee into his back with crushing force.
"Ugh!" Hawkeye grunted, spinning around to counterattack with his bow.
Kagura Hitomi leaned back, effortlessly dodging his strike, and with a quick flick of her leg, she sent his bow flying.
"Tch."
Hawkeye, his senses sharper than ever, momentarily forgot about his dizziness and focused entirely on the fight.
He pushed off the ground, twisting mid-air to evade a dart before drawing his pistol again.
"WTF—"
Before he could finish, Kagura Hitomi had already disappeared.
"How the hell is she so fast—"
'Thud!'
His sentence was cut short as a sudden, heavy blow struck the back of his head.
Darkness overtook him as he collapsed unconscious.
"Hmph."
Kagura Hitomi tossed aside the remnants of his bow and clapped the dust off her hands.
"Not bad. He actually put up a fight."
Taking down Hawkeye was only the first step of her mission.
She crouched beside him, flipping him over and placing a hand on his forehead.
While the neural inhibitor gas had been effective, it was still faster to use her abilities.
[Stealth Electromagnetic Mental Interference: Activated]
Delicate blue patterns spread across her body, channeling an ethereal glow from her palm into Hawkeye's mind.
The foreign energy coursed through him, breaking the mental control imposed by the Mind Scepter.
With the skill taking full effect, the S.H.I.E.L.D. elite agent finally regained his true consciousness.
"Cortana, we're good here. Send a transport to pick him up."
Kagura Hitomi spoke into her communicator, signaling the 'Halo' transport from Rhodes Island Industries.
"Hawkeye's in your hands now. Handle the recruitment later—I've got another fight to get to."
"Orders confirmed, Master. Everything is going according to plan, isn't it?"
"That's right."
The girl rose to her feet, gazing at the glowing cityscape ahead.
"So far, everything is proceeding exactly as I planned."
———————————————————————
— Stuttgart, Germany – City Center
Hawkeye's squad had gone completely silent. Loki was furious.
His plan to obtain Heinrich Seifert's eye was now meaningless.
Frustration boiled within him, and when Loki was frustrated, he tended to do terrible things.
Then again…
He did those things when he was in a good mood too.
Standing atop the grand staircase, adorned in Asgardian robes and gripping the Mind Scepter, Loki's voice rang with authority.
"Kneel!"
"KNEEL!!!"
———————————————————————
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