"And you want me to believe that my entire universe is just a comic book?" Kate crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes. I think I was finally losing her. Why does everyone always think that that is the craziest thing they've ever heard in a universe with talking raccoons and whatever the hell M.O.D.O.K. is?

"It's a lot less crazy than it sounds! Just think about it, have you ever really looked at all of the faces in the crowd and notice that most of the ones towards the back or edges are just blobs? You're an archer! Of all people should be able to pick out details like that better than anyone." I had a point! Extras barely even have faces sometimes. Too much work for the artists to do in widescreen panels of crowd shots.

Kate thought for a minute before pulling us both back into the shadows. Two HYDRA guards walked passed, not even bothering to look up. I waited until they were far enough away before continuing.

"What kind bad guy doesn't look up in New York City? This is why Spider-Man has such an easy time in the game. No one looks up until you leave a body on the ground-"

"Please stop talking," she whispered, knocking an arrow and training it at the two guards. The arrow flew so fast I couldn't even see it. I was pretty sure there wasn't even a panel drawn to show the arrow in flight. Just one panel with Kate readying her shot and the next panel with two very electrocuted HYDRA guards on the ground.

"Come on. There shouldn't be that many more guards in this complex. We get in, grab what we came for and go." I watched her climb up the fire escape before looking down and grabbing the bottom border of the panel. Making just a small tear, I was able to see into The Gutter and find the page number.

5

"Yeah, I don't think this issue is ending any time soon," I whispered, scrambling to follow her up the ladder.

"You could make this easier by using your powers, you know? Make them disappear or teleport somewhere? Anything useful?" She loosed an arrow down an alley the ricocheted off a wall and into a booth that held about five guards. I could see the sound effects of a hiss as the room filled with gas and knocked them out before they could raise the alarm.

"Oh, sorry! I thought this was a 'no powers' kind of thing?" She rolled her eyes at me again- I was starting to think that that wasn't a good sign.

"You haven't shot any body either." Definitely getting a little annoyed with me. If that happened then we'd definitely get captured and probably body-switched until we learned to appreciate each other or something. I wasn't ready for that trope just yet.

"I didn't bring a silencer! I thought we needed to be quiet?" In my defense I'd never really learned about guns in my universe. I'd bought- okay, borrowed from one of Punisher's secret stashes- three different silencers before I accidentally ended up a couple of panels before he decided he needed some new toys. Maybe next time I'll ask him for help?

"You brought swords," she hissed.

"Oh… Forgot about those." To be fair, carrying something on your back is a real easy way to forget you have it.

"Okay, okay. I'll get the next ones." I smiled as wide as I could, hoping she didn't think I was just along for the ride. Okay, I kind of was, but I didn't want her to think that.

"Hey! These guys are knocked out!"

"There's an arrow. That Hawkeye guy is here! Make sure to check the rooftops. Quick, before he finds the package." The voices spread out and sounded the alarm, putting the guards that were left on edge.

"Damn! We gotta hurry," Kate hissed, pulling me towards the edge of the roof and jumping across to the next building.

"I kinda did warn you about leaving the bodies behind," I reminded her, just barely making the jump myself. We ran across a few more buildings before we reached our target.

"In here!" An explosive arrow a few feet ahead of us punched a hole in the roof and I followed her in. Two guards were crushed below the rubble and the one last guy already had an arrow in him before I hit the ground.

"She's so cool." The thought bubble exploded with a loud pop as it caught a bullet from a HYDRA guard at the end of the hall.

"Get them!" An alarm went off and about a dozen more guards poured into the panel.

"Crap." Kate was fast, but not faster than a few dozen bullets. Good thing is she wouldn't have to be.

"All aboard The Gutter express!" I grabbed her wrist and pulled her off the panel with me just the bullets started raining down.

"Where… where are we," Kate asked, looking around confusedly.
"Oh, you probably shouldn't pay too much attention. It might melt your brain or something." It probably wasn't true, but I didn't want her to see a scene of something she wasn't supposed to know.

"What now?"

"Well, good news bad news. Whaddya wanna hear first?"

"Bad news."

"There are a whole lot of guards protecting what we came for."

"And the-"

"Come check it out." The panel was full of HYDRA guards, most of them looking around searching for us. But right in the middle there was a pink energy field, just barely containing our target. Clearly they hadn't been expecting her to be so strong. Unfortunately if it wasn't a Captain America or Avengers comic, HYDRA weren't exactly the smartest guys around.

"America," Kate hissed. I could see her fist clenching around her bow. She was really upset that HYDRA had captured her friend.

"She's about to save herself. But I don't think she'd really mind the help."

"Can you handle the guys operating the control panel while I clear the room?" She looked at me like she really wasn't sure I'd be able to handle it. I winked, hoping she'd give me a chance to prove myself. I am a superhero after all!

"Now how do we get in there?"

"Make sure to hold your breath." I grabbed her by the shoulder and ran towards the panel, dragging her through just as easily as jumping out a window.

Arrows and bullets rained down on the guards, Kate softening her fall with a foam arrow that'd trapped three guards as it exploded. I downed one myself before landing on the backs of two other guards.

A super cool combat roll and karate kick to the crotch took out another guard as I made my way towards the control panel. An arrow whizzed passed my head and knocked out a guard I hadn't seen that was getting ready to raise his gun at me.

"Thanks, Hawkeye!"

A quick swipe of my sword cleared the last two guards that were protecting the control panel. I took my mask off and took a moment to think, trying to decide if I was going to try to impress Kate and hack this thing, or take the smart option.

"Smart option it is." I took my sword and stabbed straight into the control panel and-

Nothing.

"Hmm."

I fired a few bullets into it. It sizzled and cracked, but the energy field was still holding America down.

"I know just the thing!" I dug into my shark backpack and pulled out the RPG I'd bought for my Teuthidan arc. One blast and the whole field sputtered out like a candle.

"Sweet!"

America shot out of the holding area fast as hell, punching clean through two HYDRA guards before landing on top of me and pinning me to the ground, fist ready to cave my face in.
"Uncle, uncle! I'm not HYDRA, I saved you!" I raised my hands above my face, knowing full well she'd break my arms if she really wanted to hurt me. She narrowed her eyes at me, fist still raised and ready to turn my chest into pulp like she didn't believe me.

"Then why the uniform?"

"This? It's pink! I look nothing like a HYDRA guard. Look, can you just grab Kate and get us out of here?" There were a lot of bullets and laser beams flying around the room, and a few were getting very close to hitting us.

"Kate's here?" She finally put her fist down. Anybody who's ever read a comic knows that America has the cutest soft spot for Kate. Definitely should've led with that.

"Of course Kate's here! Now come on, she's probably-"

"Nobody move. Stay right where you are." Lady Bullseye. With a pistol aimed right at Kate's throat. She was leading her forward with a hand at the back of her head, pushing her roughly towards us. There was blood pouring from Kate's nose and a bullet hole in her arm. There's always some low level bad guy as the boss of these dungeons. Should've expected that.

"Lady Bullseye? See, this is one of the few times I agree with the dumb guys that complain about just changing one aspect of an established character. This just seems kinda lazy-"

"Silence. Hands up now or I'll stain your costume with your friends' blood." If she was a Bullseye I was pretty sure she wouldn't miss at that range. I put my hands up, gun pointing straight up towards the ceiling. I had a plan. Well, half of a plan.

"Kate, I'll-"

"You'll do nothing. One twitch out of you and I'll shoot. I see you destroyed your containment field. That's fine, we'd just completed construction on the replacement. I-"

"Hey! Hi. Lady Bullseye? Should I just call you Lady? Um, I see that there's no containment field or anything for me. You planning on throwing me in a regular cell or something?" I just needed a clean page. If we were on a page with a lot of panels in a row, this wouldn't work. I needed a wide shot right over another wide shot. Best way to do that, lots of dialogue."

"You are of no use to us. As soon as we contain your friend, you and the Hawkeye will be- aaaiiiiieee!" I took a deep breath, concentrated, and fired my gun. It shot up right through the panel, tearing through the Gutter, and shooting Lady Bullseye's pistol out of her hand. The small hole in the floor sealed itself up and I guess I just kinda created a time loop? Freaky.

Kate took the chance and elbowed Lady Bullseye right in the jaw, knocking her out cold. She finished it off, spitting a gross glob of blood and snot at her before wiping her face.

"Nice hit Kate," America was at her side in seconds and playfully punched her in the shoulder.

"Thank Gwen. How'd you make that shot? I didn't see a ricochet, it looked like it just came out of the ground-"

"Hey, can't we all just be glad we saved America?"

"I know I'm glad. Thank you…"
"Gwenpool. But you can just call me Gwen."

"Thanks Gwen." America rested a hand on my shoulder and I could already feel my cheeks getting hot.

"I, uh, um. N-No p-problem. Gay to help- happy! Happy to help." Smooth.

"I might have to thank you for saving my life properly later. This is all I've got for now." She placed a hand along my jaw, lifting my face to look up into her eyes. Ms America leaned down and kissed me. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest, stars spinning around my head. I wasn't sure that they weren't hers.

"Don't mind me! I'll just call a cab. See you guys back home, you're welcome for saving your life!" America laughed and grabbed my wrist and winked at me. A star portal opened up behind Kate and she walked in to it while America and I followed close behind.

I just made out with America...