What If...?

The Old West.

A frontier of endless possibility...

...and untold villainy.

How many was that?

That was nine. One left.

You sure? I thought I counted eight.

And legend goes it's gotta be exactly...

Ten rings.

Now we wait.

But often the most treacherous of places

have a way of breeding the truest of heroes.

John Walker.

You rang?

Nice of you to show up.

Although, it will be the last mistake you ever make.

Mistake?

Hey, Hawkeye, when's the last time you missed your mark?

Can't recall.

But it sounds like these folks could use a demonstration.

Let's get her done.

Mind if I take my hat off first?

Hmm?

Where's the Hood?

I'm sorry, who?

Don't get cute.

The Hood's been ransacking construction sites all across the West.

And abducting all the workers building the rail lines.

Eh, what do I care about a bunch of missing Chinese immigrants?

All right. Argh. All right.

The Hood's headed towards Point Pegasus.

But I wouldn't fret.

Because in due time, the Hood comes for everybody.

And rumor has it, he's got his eyes fixed on you.

In the Wild West, danger's always lurking just over the horizon.

But there are still some heroes

who ride right towards it to become a legend.

Time.

Space.

Reality.

It's more than a linear path.

It's a prism of endless possibility,

where a single choice can branch out into infinite realities,

creating alternate worlds from the ones you know.

I am the Watcher.

I am your guide through these vast new realities.

Follow me and ponder the question...

"What If?"

Alternate realities, parallel universes.

You get it at this point.

Small choices, big changes, etcetera.

But, out in the farthest reaches of the Multiverse,

well, things can get a little weird.

Here, anything is possible.

Really. Anything.

Think less "What if?" and more "What the hell?"

In this universe, Ultron was actually programmed for show tunes.

But even in the Multiverse's most far-out worlds,

one thing sadly remains a constant.

Injustice.

Shang-Chi's universe was no exception.

Looking to escape the shadow of her father's tyranny, in this universe,

Shang-Chi's sister, Xu Xialing,

immigrated to the United States in the late 1860s,

only to discover the American Dream was not what she'd been promised.

Immigrants had become targets,

thanks to a mysterious crime lord known as the Hood,

who realized he could cement his power

by preying on the locals' fear of their new neighbors.

But when Xialing saw this injustice firsthand,

she alone sought out the Hood and fought back.

Only never to be heard from again.

And when rumor spread the Hood had taken Xialing and her neighbors hostage,

no one cared to look for them.

Except Shang-Chi.

Desperate to find his missing sister,

he joined forces with Kate Bishop,

a sharpshooter with her own bad blood against the Hood.

Together, they became a frontier fable.

But this tall tale was starting to sound more like a ghost story.

Walker's tip was good.

But we're still too late. Again.

Ah, as if working the rail lines isn't torture enough.

The Hood left my family's homestead the same way after he got through with it.

No survivors.

And no trail left to track.

We're getting closer. We'll find him, Kate.

And when we do,

I'm gonna put him dead in the ground myself.

Not before he tells me where my sister is first. All right?

Help.

Help.

No way.

You okay, kid?

Here, have some of this.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, okay. Slow down.

- You got a name? - Jun-Fan.

Well, all right, Jun-Fan.

Do you think you can tell us what happened?

I tried to ring the bell to call you, but the Hood was too fast.

It's all right. We're here now.

We can help, but you gotta tell us what you saw.

It started like any other night.

Dad telling your stories,

The Legend of Hawkeye and the Ten Rings.

The frontier heroes who fight for those who can't fight for themselves.

Until the Hood appeared.

He whipped in out of nowhere,

like a chill in the air.

And took everyone away on a Ghost Train.

A "Ghost Train"?

Yeah, a Ghost Train. It went that way.

How did it head into the valley? There's no track.

I saw it with my own two eyes. You gotta believe me!

Please, Shang-Chi. He took my dad.

I shouldn't have hid.

You did good, kid. We'll take it from here.

No! I'm coming with you. I want to teach the Hood a lesson myself.

Hey, now, hang on--

All right. Now, that last one was actually pretty good.

Hey, check it.

There's a faint trail running along the desert floor.

Looks like it leads straight into the valleys,

in the Fury Flats.

Just like the kid said.

They've got a mean head start.

But if we ride the stagecoach route over the mountains...

We'll head them off at the pass.

What do you think, Jun-Fan? Up for an adventure?

Hyah!

Hyah!

Did we make it?

Don't know, kid. We've just gotta wait.

And hope we didn't miss it.

Please, let us be in time.

Come out, wherever you are.

There it is!

Hah. Well, I'll be.

That's our Ghost Train. Let's move! Hyah!

Hyah!

Come on. Come on!

Hyah!

Let's go!

Don't worry. Kate's got some serious forearm strength.

You got this, kid.

- Whoa! - I got ya.

Nice one, kid.

What in tarnation?

Don't stray too far, will you, Morris?

Uh, guys?

- What? - Oh, boy.

Hang on!

No, no, no...

Ah... Huh?

What? Wait. Huh?

What in the hell?

Whoa! Did you see? We just flew over a canyon!

When we find your dad, do not tell him about this.

Oh, man.

- Look. - Yeah.

Looks like the railroad workers weren't the only thing the Hood made off with.

This looks like one of Stark's inventions.

Damn. I'll be.

Stark Munitions, Hammer Steel, Cross Manufacturing.

The Hood's jacked all of 'em.

This is an arsenal.

Enough to take the whole damn West by storm.

Dad? Dad!

Dad, where are you?

Dad, are you here?

Are they the workers?

Yeah. Well, if the Hood's lookin' for an army,

a bunch of railroad workers wouldn't be a bad start.

Why won't he answer?

Some kind of devilry.

The Hood's work, no doubt.

Which means we need to have a word

with the man himself.

Huh?

Well, if it ain't Hawkeye and the Ten Rings!

Welcome aboard.

Uh-uh-uh.

Now, you're gonna wanna drop those guns.

And you, Ten Rings, why don't you lower those fists of fury?

Wouldn't want a party foul to ruin this little guest's good time.

Who are you? Where's the Hood? Where is my sister?

I'm so-- Look at me, boys.

My apologies. My name is Sonny Burch.

I'm a proud investor in the bright, new future the Hood's building.

"Bright future," huh? Doesn't look so bright for your prisoners back there.