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Jane said the words. But she didn't move. She was rooted to the spot, as if her feet had been glued to the floor.
Hawk saw this and couldn't help but laugh.
"Scared?"
"No."
Jane shook her head. She looked from the sealed Aether back to Hawk. "You said this was sealed away by Thor's grandfather, Bor?"
"I did."
"And he sealed it away because it was dangerous, right?"
"...Yes."
"Then there's no way I'm going near it..." Jane threw her hands up, her expression resolute. "You want me to help you unleash something that dangerous? Not a chance!"
Hawk just raised an eyebrow.
Jane's expression was firm, the look she was giving him no different from the way one would look at a villain, as if she were prepared to die for her principles.
If she didn't know the truth, it would be one thing. But now that she knew this was some kind of superweapon that even the All-Father of Asgard had feared, she wasn't about to let it out.
Jane paused, her gaze still locked with his. "But thank you for being honest with me. You could have lied, but you didn't."
"Don't mention it." Hawk smiled faintly and said nothing more, his attention returning to the Aether.
A man has to have a code. He could have lied. He could have manipulated her into doing exactly what he wanted.
But… Deception, like killing, is a line you only cross once. After that, there's no going back.
If he started using underhanded tactics now, he'd eventually become an underhanded person.
As they both fell silent, the chamber was once again plunged into a dead stillness.
Jane looked at Hawk, who was standing as still as a statue. She opened her mouth to say something, then thought better of it and closed it again.
After a few more moments of silence, she couldn't stand it anymore.
"Look…"
"That thing brought you in here. If we don't let it out, we're not getting back." Hawk, who had been waiting for her to break down, cut her off. "That's our only option, for now."
"For now?" Jane caught the key word.
"Yep."
Hawk nodded. "If you don't want to do that, we can wait. We can wait until I'm strong enough to just brute-force my way through All-Father Bor's seal and take it myself. Then we can leave."
The seal was powerful, no doubt.
But…
Bor was long dead. And this seal had been here for millennia. The divine lightning that powered it had weakened over time.
Honestly, Hawk could probably break through it now if he went all out—Phoenix Armor and all.
But he would be injured.
Badly.
He hadn't even mastered the Sixth Sense yet. His Cosmo was barely at the level of a rookie Silver Saint.
And even if he did manage to get the Aether, it would be useless.
The Infinity Stones were powerful, but they came with a price.
The Reality Stone, in particular, was a parasite. It fed on the life force of its wielder. If you were weak, it would drain you dry in an instant.
If he was seriously injured when he took it, the Aether would consume him before he could even begin to use it to manifest his Cosmo in reality.
But if he could fully awaken his Sixth Sense, it would be a different story.
He was confident that, with the power of the Sixth Sense, he could break the seal without a scratch.
"And how long would that take?" Jane frowned.
"Ten months." Hawk said it casually.
He had no idea how long it would take to master the Sixth Sense. It was a matter of inspiration. Just like when he had fought the Demon Hulk. A flash of inspiration in the heat of battle had allowed him to crack open a corner of the door to the Sixth Sense and learn to fly.
"HOW LONG??" Jane looked like she was about to snap.
"Ten months. Maybe longer. Who knows."
Hawk glanced at her wide, disbelieving eyes and smiled. "Are you in a hurry?"
Jane was speechless.
"Aren't you?"
"Nope."
Hawk shook his head, his gaze returning to the sealed Aether. "This is what I came for. I'm not leaving without it."
Jane fell silent.
After a long moment, she looked at the Aether, took a deep breath, and then, slowly, took a single step forward.
Hawk, who had been watching her out of the corner of his eye, smiled to himself.
This was the other reason he hadn't lied.
He didn't need to.
There was only one way out.
So, instead of manipulating her, he had just told her the truth and let her make the choice herself.
As long as he wasn't in a hurry, the pressure was all on her.
And now, she had cracked.
After all, he could afford to wait ten months.
She couldn't.
Jane slowly walked over to Hawk's side, stopping just at the edge of the seal's effective range. She looked at him again. "Are you sure this thing won't attack me?"
Hawk's voice was calm. "I haven't lied to you yet. This is just my theory."
A flash of anger crossed her face.
Hawk immediately added, "But you can try. If it does attack you, I promise I can get you out."
Jane's jaw tightened. She took another deep breath, then, without looking at him, she faced the seal, squared her shoulders, and took a single, deliberate step forward.
The next second, nothing happened.
Jane blinked, then a look of relief washed over her. She took two more steps.
Still nothing.
The seal was completely inert.
Even though he had expected it, Hawk couldn't help but feel a flicker of surprise.
Jane, realizing the seal wouldn't harm her, quickly walked right up to it.
The moment she got close, the Aether inside began to stir.
She watched as the swirling, red energy began to slam against the inside of its prison, and took a step back, startled. She didn't dare get any closer. She turned to Hawk. "How dangerous is this thing?"
"Depends on who's using it." His voice was even.
"What do you mean?"
"It used to belong to the Dark Elves. They tried to use it to plunge all Nine Realms into eternal darkness. That's why All-Father Bor defeated them and sealed it away."
"And you?"
Jane's brow furrowed. "If you get it, what are you going to use it for?"
Hawk met her gaze and smiled, his voice still perfectly calm.
"To save my sister."
"...Your sister?"
Jane had imagined a dozen different, terrible scenarios. But this was not one of them.
The guarded, suspicious look on her face softened into one of confusion. "What happened to your sister?"
"She died in an accident on September 10th, 2009."
"She died?"
"Yes."
"Then…"
"She's in Hell, waiting for me to bring her home."
"Hell."
Jane thought back to what Thor had told her. "You mean… Mephisto?"
Hawk smiled and nodded. "Yes. Mephisto's Hell."
"Okay..."
Jane looked from the swirling, malevolent Aether back to Hawk. "You haven't lied to me. I believe you. So, how do I help you?"
Hawk shook his head.
"My original plan was to just follow you in here and then take it."
"But I didn't realize until we got here that you didn't find it. It found you."
"As long as Bor's seal is active, I can't touch it."
"Only you can release it. The moment you do, the seal will break."
"But…"
"The instant you touch it, it will try to possess you. And no matter how fast I am, I won't be able to absorb all of it."
Even if he could, it wouldn't be the complete Aether anyway.
If he remembered correctly, there was another fragment of the Aether still in the hands of the Dark Elves—the fragment that was used to create the Kurse.
The monster that had killed Thor's mother, Frigga.
If he wanted the complete Reality Stone, he would need all the pieces.
But for now…
Hawk pushed the thought from his mind.
One step at a time.
Jane's eyes were wide. She looked from the swirling red mass back to him, her voice trembling slightly. "So, I'm going to die?"
Hawk snapped out of his thoughts.
"No. It will just start feeding on your life force. If we don't get it out of you in time."
"And how do we do that?"
"I don't know."
"You—"
"But you won't die. I promise."
'By now, Thor has probably noticed his girlfriend is missing.'
Hawk thought to himself.
Jane, who had been on the verge of a complete meltdown, swallowed the curse that was on the tip of her tongue and glared at him. "So, to get out of here, we have to let this thing out, and you promise I won't die. Right?"
Hawk nodded.
"Correct."
"Then let's do it."
Jane had given up trying to find another way. This was it. She took a deep breath and stood before the seal. "I'll count to three."
Hawk's senses went on high alert. He watched as she slowly raised her right hand.
"Do it."
"One."
"Two."
"THREE!"
BOOOOOOM!
"..."
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