Plausability check: Yes, it IS possible to shoot ten arrows within ten seconds - and hit the target every time. In fact, there's a video on Youtube showing a guy who's shooting ten arrows within five seconds, using an old technique he claims to have re-discovered. Of course, Hawkeye got the "practice-bonus" and let's also give him the usual superhero-bonus, huh? ;)

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

A line of targets.

What the heck ...? Tony thought.

Why did those guys need a line of small, round archery targets? They looked out of place in this – well, it looked like a kind of spaceship shuttle hangar but Tony was pretty sure it wasn't, since they were underground and hadn't actually left New York. Not technically speaking, at least. Metaphorically speaking, they definitely weren't in Kansas anymore. Not that they'd ever been there.

Tony took in a deep breath.

Slow down. Try to come up with something to get us all out of here. Genius, right? You should be able to do that.

Only that he couldn't. Well, maybe one of the others ...

He glanced at them.

The five hostages definitely wouldn't be a great help. Too scared. Cap looked like he was ready to make a stand but Tony wasn't quite sure whether he would be able to stand at all. Whatever those guys had used to knock out Steve, Thor and the Hulk only seemed to work that long on Steve but he still looked to dazed to be of much use. The Hawk had taken a gun-shot to the thigh – and they had taken his bow and arrows – and Tasha was bleeding from a head-wound. Nothing serious, probably, but it meant she, too, couldn't work at top capacity.

Great. We're screwed.

The door opened.

Why do they always wear masks? Tony wondered.

Before he could voice his thoughts, though, the big masked guy - skin-tight body-suit, belt, boots, cape, all in colours that made you want to tear out your eyes – lifted his arm and pointed at Clint.

"You", he said.

He was using some kind of device that slightly garbled his voice.

Clint raised his eyebrows.
"Me?"

"Get up."

The archer did as ordered, making a big show of how much of a handicap his injured leg was. Tony made a mental note to suggest him for an Academy Award.

"I will give you a chance to save some of your friends. Or some of the hostages", Ugly Mask said.

"Oh?"
Clint's eyebrows went higher.

Ugly Mask waved his hand and one of his cronies entered the room carrying the archer's bow and quiver that had been filled with arrows again. He stopped next to his master.

Ugly Mask gestured at the targets.
"See those targets?"

Clint nodded.

"You will be allowed to leave and take as many persons with you as you can hit targets."
An evil grin appeared on Ugly Mask's face.
"To make things more interesting, however, there will be a time limit."

"Time limit?" Clint repeated, eyes firmly set on the targets.

Of course, he must have been wondering the same thing as Tony: Where's the catch?

"Yes. You have ten seconds."

Something about the archer's posture changed. So subtly that Tony was sure Ugly Mask didn't notice. Also, the corner of Clint's mouth twitched. He couldn't say with what, though. Anger? Amusement? Could have been both.

"Am I getting this right, you're giving him ten seconds to hit ten targets?" Tony asked.

"No, I'm giving him ten seconds to hit as many targets as he can and then, choose whom of you he wants to save. The others will die, of course."

"Of course."

Clint didn't say anything. He took his bow and slung the quiver over his shoulder. Then, he walked – limped, actually – over to the targets until he was within easy shooting distance. He tested the string of his bow and nodded.

"Can I at least nock the first arrow before you start the countdown?" he asked.

And from that poor kicked puppy-dog look he gave Ugly Mask, Tony knew something was up. He glanced at Tasha. She had straightened and was watching the archer intently. Not in a nervous kind of way, though. More like "Guys, you gotta see this!".

Ugly Mask gestured at Clint to go ahead and he reached back over his shoulder to pull the first arrow from the quiver and place it on the string.

And then, things went so fast Tony – and the others – had to review the recording (of course there was a recording – there always was when there was a villain as pompous as Ugly Mask) in slow motion to see what exactly was happening.

The countdown started. The first arrow hit the first target. So did arrows two through ten with their respective targets. Arrow eleven embedded itself square in Ugly Mask's chest – Clint must have turned or, more likely, spun round at some point but Tony had missed the exact moment when it had happened – and arrow twelve felled Ugly Mask's crony who had been watching with his mouth hanging open.

The archer lowered his bow and took in a deep breath.

For a moment, there was complete silence. Even Tasha looked impressed, and that was an expression Tony had rarely ever seen on her face before.

It was him who finally broke the silence.
"So that's what you were doing at the circus, huh?"

Clint nodded.
"Minus the shooting people, of course. And at twice that speed, but then, I was using a different bow and technique."

Tasha folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Show-off."

It didn't occur to Tony, then, that the archer actually might have injured his arm by pulling such a stunt. He only figured that one out later that day, when they were back at Avengers Tower and he came across Clint watching "Home Improvement" re-runs – in German – holding an ice-pack to his left arm.

When Tony asked, Clint just shrugged it off.

"Wrong bow, wrong speed – that bow's not really made for shooting that fast."
He glanced at his arm.
"It'll be fine. And even if it wouldn't be – I can live without my arm."

Tony didn't have to be the genius he was to gather what the archer wasn't saying but most definitely thinking: An arm – or any other body-part – was a small price to pay when you managed to save your friends.

"Crossbows", he said.

Clint frowned at him.

Tony nodded.
"There's crossbows, smaller ones, that you can handle one-handed. I'd definitely look into that option, at least if you plan on pulling more stunts of that sort in the future."

"Tried them. Don't like them. But a blowpipe would be an acceptable option."
Clint returned his attention to his TV show where Tim Allen was just demonstrating how to turn a dryer into a bomb – of course, he claimed he was repairing it.

Tony left to head to his workshop.

He tried to imagine the Hawk with a blowpipe instead of bow and arrow. He didn't quite manage but he was sure the result would be no less deadly.