"Attention, five minutes remain. If anyone wishes to answer, please do so promptly."
"If no one answers, the system will designate a respondent when time expires."
As the countdown voice echoed through the quiz chatroom, everyone started debating again.
[Tony Stark (She Says She Loves Me Three Thousand Times): We can rule out one option first, Obadiah Stane. I treat him like family. He can't possibly be the mastermind behind my future kidnapping.]
[Barton (If I Fight, We Win): Not necessarily. The human heart is the hardest thing to read. Sometimes, the closer someone is, the easier they betray you. When I was a kid, at the circus I was...]
He stopped mid sentence and shifted to analysis.
[Barton (If I Fight, We Win): Let's break down the options. Obadiah Stane is the acting director at Stark Industries. Second, Hydra. That stays on the table. Howard Stark helped found S.H.I.E.L.D. to fight Hydra. As for the third, local forces, we can ignore it. The question asks who orchestrated the kidnapping. Local forces would be the executors, not the mastermind.]
[Barton (If I Fight, We Win): So we're down to two: Obadiah Stane or Hydra.]
[Tony Stark (She Says She Loves Me Three Thousand Times): It is absolutely not Obadiah Stane. I'm certain of it. Because...]
[Nick Fury (Would Love a Vacation on the Moon): @Tony Stark, do not speak in absolutes.]
[Barton (If I Fight, We Win): @Nick Fury is right. Ask who benefits if Tony is attacked. The greater the benefit, the stronger the motive. If Tony is taken, the biggest beneficiary is Obadiah Stane, since he currently runs Stark Industries. As for Hydra, to be blunt, we don't even know if they still exist. If Howard Stark were alive, Hydra would move. No disrespect, but Tony Stark isn't someone Hydra would rate above all else.]
Barton then gave his answer to the chatroom. "I choose Obadiah Stane as the mastermind behind this attack on Tony Stark."
Tony frowned. "I don't know who you are, pal, but trust me, that choice has to be wrong."
"Hawkeye Barton has submitted an answer. Clint Barton, do you confirm?"
Barton drew a breath, glanced at the translucent panel, then nodded. With Nick Fury pinging him by text as well, he said firmly, "Confirmed."
"Congratulations, Clint Barton. Correct. Reward granted: skill, Teleportation."
Tension drained from Barton's shoulders at the verdict. He clenched his fist as a soft light only he could see wrapped around him.
When it faded, energy flooded his limbs. He willed it, and his body flickered ten meters away.
"So... this is teleportation?"
He stared back at the swing he had just been sitting on outside and then at the lawn beneath his feet. By eye, about ten meters.
"Which means the skill is real, but the range is roughly ten meters. It also burns stamina." He ran a quick internal tally. "At my current fitness, if I chain it non stop, I can manage about five jumps. Paired with my archery, this is an excellent lifesaver."
At the same time, in Aoi Shun's Manhattan apartment:
"So Barton can jump at most five times, then needs an hour's rest, like a cooldown."
Reading the private skill notes the system sent him, Aoi noticed a key difference in his own reward.
Barton's teleport required recovery and consumed stamina. His did not.
As long as he willed it, he could keep teleporting.
Barton's maximum range was ten meters. His was a hundred times larger.
"In other words, the skill I receive isn't identical to what other heroes get. Mine is the perfected, enhanced version."
He looked back to the chatroom, where the moment Barton answered, the place exploded with messages.