"In two more days, we'll arrive at the port in Eastern Europe."
Merlin holds a tray of lunch into him and Barton's room. Barton, as usual, was checking and calibrating his gear and weaponry in the small cabin.
Merlin places the tray onto the table in front of Barton, the latter looks up and quietly nods to express his gratitude.
He didn't immediately start eating, instead, he kept doing the work at hand.
Merlin took an apple and sat on the side while looking at Barton.
The latter was calibrating a black arrow with a small knife. He flicks the metal arrowhead with the knife and raises it to eye level from time to time as if he's measuring its balance.
"You use a bow and arrows?"
Merlin suddenly asks, to which Barton didn't reply, he instead placed the calibrated arrow back into the quiver. In that odd-looking black quiver were about 20 calibrated arrows.
"Don't they use guns now? Guns are more convenient, faster, and more powerful, why do you still use a bow and arrows? Do you have some special ability, or is it simply because you like these types of medieval weapons?"
Barton continued to ignore him, Merlin frowns at his attitude, he places the half-eaten apple onto the table and tells the agent in front of him:
"Fury let us cooperate, but your attitude is not of a cooperator. I don't know if you're arrogant or what, we didn't even have more than 5 conversations over the past day! Do you have an opinion of me? Clint!"
"No."
Barton picks up another arrow, and while calibrating it, he says:
"It's just that I don't like talking, not that I have an opinion of you."
He glances at Merlin's expression and shakes his head, he puts down the work at hand and straightens his body, then he looks at Merlin and asks:
"Alright, Merlin, what do you want to talk to me about?"
"Err..."
The atmosphere becomes awkward, since having a conversation needs a topic, and Merlin couldn't think of one when he looked at Barton's indifferent face.
He and agent Barton were two different types of temperament. They also had little to no similarities.
"Let's talk about this."
Merlin picks up Barton's arrow, he looks at him and asks:
"Clint, why use a bow as your weapon? You see, it's hard to carry, hard to hide, and reloading takes longer than a normal gun, it's practically full of weak points."
"No, it's not."
Agent Barton looks at Merlin and says:
"First, don't call me Clint, call me Barton."
"Alright, Clint."
Merlin nods, which attracts agent Barton's glare. The latter takes out a short black stick from his briefcase and gently flicks his wrist.
"Pa"
Following a crisp sound, curved black metal blades bring out of both ends of the stick, and with a short bowstring humming sound, a fully intact black combat bow appears in Barton's hand.
"The bow itself is made of special materials, when it's hidden, it can avoid X-ray detection. It weighs a quarter of a sniper rifle's weight, along with specialized arrows, its effective range is about 600 meters. It's suitable for all types of combat environments, especially infiltration and special operations, the arrows it fires are silent, so it's very effective in assassination missions. When needed, it can even be used in close combat."
Agent Barton looks at Merlin and says:
"For real, Merlin, do you think that carrying a heavy and easily exposed sniper rifle is more convenient than this?"
"Err, maybe not."
Merlin reaches out and takes the combat bow in agent Barton's hands, he weighs this modern-made alloy bow in his hand, and just like what Barton had said, this thing is truly lighter than a sniper rifle.
"But you have to admit, Clint, that as useful as a bow maybe, but carrying arrows aren't as convenient as carrying ammo, right?"
"So you're thinking about ammunition?"
Agent Barton smiles and shakes his head, he lightly taps on the specially-made quiver next to his hand, there's an odd metal turntable at the bottom of the quiver that looked like a custom-made complex weapon.
"The logistics department designed this quiver for me, in it are 60 types of arrowheads used for different scenarios, and the shafts could be used repeatedly. Plus, even if I do run out of arrows, I'm not exactly powerless."
Barton picks up peach on a toothpick. places the fruit in his mouth, and flicks the toothpick.
Then, Barton waves his fingers, and it pierces through the half-eaten apple on the table.
"Cool!"
Merlin picks up the trembling apple and examines it with his eyes.
The toothpick Barton shot out had pierced directly into the apple's core, such impressive skill meant that if he and agent Barton were under the same range, the toothpick Barton shot out could've easily pierced through his eye, or neck.
This was not just a simple skill, it was more of outstanding talent.
Barton who just showed off a bit of his skill wasn't complacent, he takes back to combat bow and retracts it to its stick form, then he picks up the spoon and begins eating his lunch.
"This is making me extra curious."
Merlin pulls out the toothpick and takes a bite of the apple, he then asks:
"Clint, what did you do before you became an agent? A killer? Or someone like Natasha who's from another organization? Having been recruited by Fury when you're being hunted?"
"Or maybe you're like me, who chose to become an agent due to lack of options?"
Agent Barton raises his head, looks at Merlin, and says:
"Neither."
He puts the last piece of bread into his mouth, and shortly afterward, he tells Merlin:
"My past isn't as spectacular as yours, and I willingly joined the SSR. Fury gave me a chance to do good, that's it."
"Then what did you do before?"
Merlin looks at the bow and arrows next to Barton and continues:
"Were you an archery instructor?"
"I..."
Recollection flashes on agent Barton's expression, he then says:
"Before I met Fury, I...worked at a circus."
"Circus?"
Merlin let out an exclamation.
Barton nods, his expression was calm as if he was telling the story of another person.
"Yes, in a circus, I was a juggler. After I experienced some things, I met Fury, that's it."
"Alright, Fury asked me to teach you some things."
Seeing as Merlin had further questions, agent Barton stands up and moves his shoulders, he tells Merlin:
"It also happens that I'm curious as to why Fury values you so much...he says you have some special powers, and I've experienced your strength firsthand on the plane, but I think, that's not all you've got, is it?"
"Let's have a 'friendly match'."
"How rare for this freight to still have an open cargo hold."
Merlin opens the hatch and waves the dust in front of him, he looks inside and there was nothing but an open space perfect for some after-meal exercise.
"Yuri's freight is used for smuggling, they'll dock in Albania, acquire some weaponry there at a low price, ship them to some area in Africa to make a difference."
Agent Barton with his red goggles walk into the cargo hold and tells Merlin:
"In the arms dealing business, Yuri may not be a large dealer, but he's well-known."
"You seem to know this ship very well? Who's Yuri? Sounds like a Russian."
Merlin flings his hand and puts on his black gloves. Hearing his question, Barton lightly says:
"This isn't my first time on this ship, as for Yuri, he's a Ukrainian migrant, an arms dealer, as well as Fury's partner; he oftentimes helps the SSR transport agents into Eastern Europe."
"It seems that we have quite the variety of 'partners'."
Merlin spreads out his hands and moves his fingers, then he nods at agent Barton:
"Are you ready?"
"Let's begin!"
"Shoo"
Just as Merlin says begin, Barton raises his hand and a flash of cold light speeds towards Merlin.
"Pa"
The flying object stops just 3 inches away from Merlin's ear. It was a silver-colored triangular flying knife with sharp edges, and that knife was currently held by Merlin's fingers.
Merlin had spread out his dark senses the moment he stepped into the cargo hold. The flying knife that agent Barton threw was so quick that if any other person was here, they would've surely been hurt by it; however, the speed and force on the flying knife was nothing to Merlin who had both his senses and physical body enhanced.
"Don't underestimate me..."
Merlin holds the flying knife in between his fingers and squints his eyes, he looks at the on-guard Barton and says:
"Just because of what Fury said!"
"Shoo"
The flying knife was thrown back by Merlin, and although Merlin had never trained in throwing knives, using his dark senses and personal strength, the flying knife he threw was forceful and quick, like an off-string arrow. He follows behind the knife with his arms spread out, and he was fast approaching Barton.
Barton was even quieter during combat, he turns his body sideways and the flying knife soars past his chest and nails into the wall behind. Seeing that Merlin had already got close, Barton did not panic, he flings his arms outwards and two daggers appear in his hand.
Barton squats down and dodges the punch Merlin threw at him, then he grips his knives backward and slashes them towards Merlin's neck. Merlin steps back and dodges his attack, while his other hand reaches out to grab Barton, but Barton kicked him in the abdomen.
"Bong"
It was like kicking on a tire, Merlin's body wobbles, but he did not back down. He blocks with his left hand and throws his right fist at Hawkeye Barton, forcing him backward.
Merlin did not learn combat systematically, he learned direct martial arts in the academy, but with his superhuman strength, his combat skills were not to be trifled with.
Hawkeye no longer tried to attack, instead, he began dodging Merlin's attack, like a tumbler, Merlin's attacks were always a few centimeters off.
"Hey!"
Seeing Hawkeye getting pushed to a corner, Merlin smashes both fists towards Hawkeye. But then, Barton leveraged his left foot on the wall behind him, and like a nimble circus clown, he flips over Merlin's head.
His hands spread out and the two daggers crisscross towards Merlin's shoulders.
He didn't use the blade, instead, he used the handle to lightly tap Merlin's shoulder, before leveraging them to leap back onto the ground.
If that was a death-match just now, Barton's daggers would've cut through Merlin's neck.
"Ah, I lost."
Merlin reaches out and presses on his shoulder, he looks back at Barton, gives him a thumbs-up, and says with admiration:
"You're quick!"
"No, it's not that I'm quick."
Barton did not have a proud expression, he keeps his daggers and tells Merlin:
"Now I know why Fury let me train you. Forget the combat style you learned in the academy, it's not suitable for you. You have good strength, but what's more important are your reflexes and super-senses, you should use more swift and efficient techniques, direct combat instead limits your capabilities."
Hawkeye tells Merlin:
"Starting from now, I'll teach you more useful techniques."
"Sure, I would love that!"
Merlin smiles at Hawkeye, he looks around and lowers his voice, saying:
"But before we start learning, let's have another go, Clint. Don't hold back this time...don't you want to see my powers?"
"Oh?"
Barton became curious, he moves his fingers and two daggers appear in his hands, he presses his body downwards and tells Merlin:
"Here I come! Careful!"
"Shoo Shoo"
The flying knives in Hawkeye's hand shoot towards Merlin, it was clear that he didn't hold back this time, as the daggers flew at twice the speed, and they didn't fly in a straight line.
"Pa"
Merlin grabs the first dagger, but the second one had already closed onto his neck from the side. He blinks at agent Barton, and just before the dagger touches Merlin, his entire body explodes into black fog like a popped balloon.
This scene made Barton widen his eyes, it also gave him a grave sense of danger.
Hawkeye could only grab a combat knife from his back. Then, his vision turns black, his entire body is swept up by the black fog, he rolls in the air, loses his grip on the combat knife, and then gets smashed onto the ground by a strong force.
"Shwa"
The black fog in front of him quickly closes up and Merlin reappears. He smiles at the stunned Barton and releases his grasp on his throat; he takes a step back, pull Barton up from the floor, and returns his combat knife, then he says:
"How was it? Clint."
Merlin reaches out and helps Barton sweep off the dust on his body, then he tells the senior agent:
"Surely I didn't disappoint."
To his question, Barton hesitates for a few seconds and gives Merlin a thumbs-up, the indifferent expression he had changed slightly, and with slight hesitation, he says:
"Great ability! Just don't perform it in front of others next time, Merlin."
"A bullet out of its chamber loses deterrence."
Barton reaches out and pats Merlin's shoulder, he gently says:
"Keep your trump card hidden..."
"Now, take off your gloves, I'll teach you combat."
