Apologies for the late update!
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His Cosmo was the core.
His mastery of the Sixth Sense was the source.
With the power of the Reality Stone fueling it, Hawk—though he had not yet grasped the Seventh Sense—could feel the change.
Power does not lie.
It was imnse, boundless—a force far greater than anything he had ever known, flooding every cell of his being.
Within his inner universe, the crimson gem that had beco the Eye of the Phoenix pulsed like a dark sun, its scarlet light illuminating every corner of his personal cosmos.
Hawk slowly rose to his feet. He looked down, extended his right hand, and casually clenched his fist.
CRACK!!!
The air and space within his hand were instantly compressed, then exploded with a sharp crack.
The next second, he looked up.
The others, watching from a safe distance, felt the shift in the sky and looked up as well.
And they saw it.
The Convergence of the Nine Realms, the spectacle caused by the World Tree's once-in-a-millennium tremor was now unfolding above them.
The golden spires of Asgard's palace materialized in the sky over Salisbury Plain.
The eternal, frozen cliffs of Jotunheim appeared beside them.
And then—
The undying flas of Muspelheim, the runic cities of Vanaheim, the brilliant, ethereal forests of Alfheim.
In that mont, the Nine Realms ford a breathtaking, impossible pillar of interconnected worlds.
Across the planet, billions of people stared up at the cosmic mirage.
Hawk was watching too.
His gaze pierced through the golden light of Asgard, past the ancient cities of Vanaheim, and beyond the eternal fires of Muspelheim. It settled at last on a desolate plain of deathly silence, a land of ash and eternal twilight.
There, on the border of that barren realm, a figure appeared—disheveled, her clothes torn, yet her unbroken gaze radiated a wild, untad power.
Hawk's eyes crossed the cosmic distance and locked with hers.
The mont she looked up, her own gaze found his.
Their eyes t across the realms.
The next second, a brilliant pillar of golden light shot down from Asgard, and the dead realm of jagged black rock and skeletal trees vanished from view.
"Is that..."
Hela?
The Goddess of Death??
Hawk snapped back to the present, his brow furrowed as he thought of the world that had just been manually blocked from view by the King of the Gods himself.
If that was her, then that realm...
Was that Helheim?
It makes sense that it would look so desolate.
As for why it appeared so desolate and empty, that was most likely Odin's doing.
After he conquered the Nine Realms, he not only abandoned his wars but also sealed his firstborn daughter in Helheim. And then, for good asure, he sealed Helheim itself.
Hawk's mind raced, recalling everything he knew about Hela and Odin.
Soon, the Convergence passed.
Earth was Earth again.
Asgard was Asgard.
It was as if nothing had happened.
...
Hawk pulled his thoughts back to the present. He saw Peter land in front of him.
"Long ti no see, Peter."
"Long... uh?"
Peter's automatic reply caught in his throat. He stared at Hawk. "Long ti no see? It's been less than half an hour. And I've been here the whole ti."
"For you, it has. For ... that half hour was a very long ti."
It had seed as if he had only been in that dark, sense-deprived space for a mont before he had grasped the Sixth Sense.
But in reality, only he knew how long he had truly been there.
A long ti...
A very very long ti.
After speaking, Hawk's gaze drifted to the world around him—the green grass, the distant trees, the fresh scent of the wind.
It all felt as if he were seeing it for the first ti after a lifeti away.
He had been gone for a very long ti.
But he was back.
His mind flashed to the image of a beautiful face that had appeared in his mind when he had been on the verge of giving up.
Gwen...
Hawk thought of the girl who was waiting for him, and took a deep breath. He turned to Peter. "Where are Gwen and Mary Jane?"
Peter said, "They've probably just finished the breakfast buffet at the hotel."
After all, less than half an hour had passed.
And as everyone knows—for girls, a vacation is mostly about taking pictures. And the hotel they had chosen was famous for its breakfast buffet, which had sothing new every single day.
So yeah. They're probably still eating.
Peter thought of his girlfriend who had once spent an entire hour ticulously editing a photo of her dinner.
Hawk nodded. "Then let's go. Ti to head back."
"Sounds good." Peter shrugged. He was just here to have Hawk's back. If Hawk said it was ti to go, it was ti to go.
Just as they were about to leave, Thor, Jane, Natasha, and Clint walked over.
"Hawk."
"Dr. Foster."
"Hawk."
"Natasha."
Hawk exchanged nods with Jane and Natasha, then his eyes settled on Jane. "Dr. Foster, I owe you one. If you ever need anything, just call."
A debt for a debt, a favor for a favor.
That's the code.
Without her, he never would have gotten the Aether. It was a debt he had to acknowledge.
Jane didn't refuse. She just smiled. "Congratulations."
She wasn't entirely sure what she was congratulating him for. But Malekith is dead, and Hawk is alive. So, congratulations seems appropriate.
"Thanks." Hawk said.
He then looked at Natasha. "Weren't you supposed to be in Africa?"
Natasha just shrugged. "Just got back. I was about to head out again after a little R&R."
Hawk nodded, then his gaze drifted to the massive, kiloter-long trench that now scarred Salisbury Plain. He looked back at her. "Just for the record, I was defending myself."
Natasha's expression was unreadable. "We know."
And they know that if this fight had happened in London, the entire city would be a crater right now.
"So, are you here to arrest ?"
"No. We're just here to make sure this doesn't end up on the evening news. The world isn't ready for this."
"Fair enough."
Hawk nodded, then his eyes finally landed on Thor.
"Thor."
"Hawk."
Thor gripped Mjølnir. "You are strong. Thank you for saving Jane."
When Thor brought Jane back to Asgard yesterday, he'd learned the truth about the Aether. If she'd been exposed to it any longer, the parasitic draining of her life force would have caused permanent damage.
So his gratitude was genuine.
Hawk heard the sincerity in his voice and smiled. "Soti, we should find a quiet corner of the universe and have a real fight."
He was curious to know if he could now beat the man who claid he could lift a star.
'I think so...'
But theory is one thing. Practice is another.
Thor felt a spark of excitent. "An excellent idea. How about now?"
Hawk shook his head. "Not now. My armor was destroyed in the fight."
As he spoke, he glanced at the golden fragnts of his armor that were now scattered across the plain.
He could use the Reality Stone to restore it. But...
One Infinity Stone can't override another's core function. And even if it could, the Reality Stone had beco the Eye of the Phoenix—its power was completely devoted to anchoring his Silver Saint abilities in this reality.
In other words, until his Cosmo broke through to the Seventh Sense and beca a true, physical parallel Phoenix Universe, he couldn't use the Reality Stone for anything else.
He had already used it for its greatest possible purpose.
Hawk tore his gaze from the wreckage. He had no intention of salvaging the pieces. His old Cosmo was gone—shattered and reborn. The armor that ca from it was obsolete now.
"And..."
"Most importantly..."
Hawk looked back at Thor, a small smile on his face as he gave the most important reason why he couldn't fight now. "My girlfriend is waiting for . I'm on vacation with her. If I'm gone for too long, she'll worry."
Thor blinked. The next instant, a sharp, piercing gaze locked onto him.
He instinctively turned.
Sure enough.
It was Jane.
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If you're interested, you can read advanced chapters:
sp-atreon/dragonnx
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