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After leaving the restaurant, Hawk and Gwen hailed a cab.
He got in, tapped the driver on the shoulder, and pointed to the red sedan that was just pulling away from the curb. He then pulled two £50 notes from his pocket and held them out.
"Follow that car."
"You got it."
The driver's eyes lit up at the sight of the two crisp bills. He pocketed the cash, shifted into gear, and hit the gas in one smooth motion.
The taxi shot forward, falling in line behind the red sedan carrying Jane Foster.
In the back seat, Gwen nudged Hawk's shoulder. When he looked at her, she whispered, "What are we doing?"
"That's the key to Hell."
Hawk said with a small, knowing smile.
It was just as he'd always said.
If he wanted to get to Hell, if he wanted to get his sister's soul back from Mephisto, he couldn't just ask nicely. He had to fight for it.
And at his current power level, going to Hell to fight Mephisto was suicide.
After all, even Mephisto had figured it out. His Cosmo wasn't native to this universe—it had to be channeled through the Phoenix constellation before reaching Earth. At best, he could only tap into seventy or eighty percent of his real power.
It was enough for the small fry.
But against a being like Mephisto, it was nothing.
In that sense, Hawk wasn't wrong when he called the Reality Stone the key to Hell.
Only the Reality Stone could make his Cosmo a permanent part of this universe's fabric. Only then would he have the power to face Mephisto as an equal. Because the moment his Cosmo became real, he'd reach the level of a Gold Saint.
And a Gold Saint versus Mephisto??
Now that's a fight!!
...
Half an hour later, the red sedan pulled into a container yard and stopped.
The taxi driver pulled over as well.
Hawk and Gwen got out.
Gwen immediately pointed to a shipping container that was standing on its end, with another one balanced precariously on top of it.
"Hawk, look."
"I see it."
Hawk nodded, then his gaze shifted to Jane Foster, who was getting out of her car along with her assistant Darcy Lewis and Darcy's intern, Ian.
Jane and Darcy saw them at the same time.
Darcy looked at them, then back at Jane. "Are they… following us?"
Jane didn't answer.
Because Hawk and Gwen were already walking toward them.
Hawk smiled at the God of Thunder's girlfriend and extended his hand. "Dr. Foster, hello."
Jane frowned, but she shook his hand.
"Do I know you?"
"Hawk."
His gaze shifted to a dilapidated, abandoned building in the distance. "I have something of mine in there. I'm here to get it back."
With that, he gave Jane a polite nod, then turned to Gwen. "Let's go."
Gwen nodded.
Hawk took her hand and led her toward the abandoned building.
He no longer needed Jane Foster to lead the way.
Because his Sixth Sense was screaming at him. The thing he was looking for was inside that building—
Jane Foster watched them go, stunned. She looked at Darcy.
"Remind me again. What's in there?"
"An Infinity Stone."
...
As they walked, Gwen, having just learned their purpose here, looked at Hawk in confusion. "What's that?"
Hawk explained as they walked.
"There are two stories about where the Infinity Stones came from."
"The first is that they were formed from the remains of a primordial cosmic being named Nemesis."
"But let's set that one aside for now."
"The second, more widely accepted theory is that before the universe existed, there were six singularities. When the Big Bang happened, the remnants of these singularities formed into six gems, each one controlling a fundamental force of existence."
"The Space Stone, which can manipulate, warp, and even reorder space itself."
"The Mind Stone, which can control minds, enhance psychic abilities, and project energy beams."
"The Reality Stone, which can warp reality and restructure matter."
"The Power Stone, which contains infinite power and energy."
"The Time Stone, which controls all of time."
"The Soul Stone, which can manipulate the souls of the living and the dead."
Hawk gave her the condensed version, then added, "You've seen one of them before."
Gwen, who was still trying to process whether he was telling her a bedtime story or not, looked at him, confused.
"I have?"
"The Tesseract."
Hawk shrugged. "It's in your history books. Captain America recovered it from HYDRA in the 1940s. Last year, the wormhole over New York City was opened by the Tesseract. The Tesseract is the Space Stone."
Gwen understood, then shook her head. "Wait, but the Tesseract isn't a gem. It's a cube."
Hawk smiled. "The cube is just a container. A box to hold the stone."
Gwen nodded, understanding dawning on her face.
"So, the one we're here for is…"
"The Reality Stone."
Hawk said, his eyes on the abandoned building. He heard a shout from inside and pulled Gwen through the doorway.
His original plan had been to come alone.
But Gwen had been so understanding. That had made him change his mind.
They stepped inside and followed the voices. Then they saw it. A young boy stood on the staircase, dropping a beer bottle into the stairwell. But instead of hitting the ground and shattering, the bottle would fall halfway before vanishing, only to reappear at the top and start its descent all over again.
Over and over.
In that moment, a perpetual motion machine had become a reality.
Gwen's eyes went wide.
"What the…"
"Hiss." Jane Foster, who had just come in behind them, let out a sharp gasp.
"Now do you see why I called you?" Darcy said.
Jane didn't answer. She pulled out a handheld sensor and started walking toward the stairs.
Hawk smiled at Gwen.
"Hold on tight."
"What?"
He didn't answer, just pulled her into his arms.
WHOOSH!
In an instant, Hawk swept past Jane, Darcy, and the three kids still messing around with the bottle, carrying Gwen in his arms. His senses were fully extended, tracking the bizarre, otherworldly energy ripples through the air to a fourth-floor hallway.
When he set her down, Gwen stumbled, pressing a hand to her forehead.
"Hawk."
"Yeah?"
"Don't ever do that again."
She fought back a wave of nausea, her expression dead serious. "Unless it's an emergency, you are not allowed to do that."
Hawk readily accepted her terms. "Alright. You stay here."
He looked down the hallway, toward the source of the energy fluctuations. He decided it was better if she didn't come any further.
The Infinity Stones were infinitely powerful, but they also had infinitely powerful side effects.
They weren't something a normal person should get close to.
But just as he was about to go on alone, his Sixth Sense flared. He looked back and saw Jane Foster, who had just come up the stairs.
Hawk spoke first. "You're going in, Dr. Foster?"
"..."
Jane looked at the readings on her device, then at Hawk's face. "Are you going to try and stop me?"
Hawk just smiled, then stepped aside and made a sweeping, "after you" gesture.
His Sixth Sense had just triggered a memory. In the original story, it wasn't really that Jane Foster had discovered the Reality Stone—the Reality Stone had found her.
The stone was right there. He had only one chance at this. To be safe, he decided to let Jane take the lead.
Jane, however, hesitated.
As the old saying goes, beware of Greeks bearing gifts. An act of unsolicited kindness is almost always a trap.
Hawk saw her hesitation and chuckled. He leaned in and whispered in Gwen's ear, "If I suddenly disappear, don't worry. I'll be back in about six hours."
Gwen's eyes widened.
Hawk gave her a quick kiss, then glanced at Jane and started walking down the hallway.
Jane, seeing the kiss, thought of her own absentee God-boyfriend, and a flash of envy crossed her face. She gritted her teeth and followed him.
Gwen watched them go, a worried expression on her face.
As Hawk walked down the abandoned hallway, he could feel the strange energy fluctuations around him intensifying.
But then, suddenly, they began to recede.
Then, as Jane walked past him, as if to prove she wasn't afraid—the energy surged into a raging, chaotic storm.
The space around them began to twist and warp.
The next second, a singularity appeared, and reality collapsed in an instant. Jane—and Hawk, who had grabbed her shoulder at the last possible moment, vanished.
Gwen stared, her eyes wide, Hawk's last words echoing in her ears.
"Don't worry. I'll be back soon."
"..."
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