...
Maybe no one had ever seen a universe come into being. But its end was happening right in front of Hawk.
It started with a glimmer, not like dawn through mist or a red glow in a dark room. Gold and crimson light burst from every corner of the universe at once.
Distant stars grew from tiny points into blazing lights as everything, from the biggest sun to the smallest speck of dust, began to burn from the inside.
Fire swept through the cosmos.
Across the vastness, the flames seemed to draw the shape of a huge phoenix, but the scale was misleading. The phoenix wasn't inside the universe. It had wrapped its wings around everything, and all within that hold was burning under heat too intense to survive.
The first wave of fire passed, and the universe started to fall apart. Spiral nebulae curled in on themselves, their shapes fading like wet ink.
Black holes stopped pulling in matter and instead spat out everything they had gathered in short, bright bursts.
Planet crusts melted into streams of light, making their final journeys across the stars.
The solar system was no different, including Earth.
In fact, Earth needed to break apart so Tiamut could appear and take the role Hawk had set aside for him: God of Order, in charge of keeping the timelines of the Phoenix Universe in balance.
Hawk would have someone working for him nonstop, never complaining and never asking for pay. He wasn't going to miss out on help like that.
As Earth died, its people died too, though a few were spared.
Hawk looked at Professor X, whom he had invited to watch.
"..." Charles sat still in his wheelchair, staring at the disaster. Shock didn't even begin to cover his expression.
"How's that for a view, Charles?" Hawk asked calmly. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
Charles turned toward him with stiff, awkward movements. He was about to speak when Hawk raised a finger to his lips.
"Shh. Watch, Charles. Earth's starting to go."
Charles turned back almost reflexively.
"Now you see how twisted your dad's sense of humor is," Wanda murmured to Jean. Still holding her daughter's hand, she shook her head with a rueful smile.
Jean nodded firmly without speaking, her eyes locked on the far-off blue planet. Hawk looked at Wanda, who met his gaze. She rolled her eyes at his smile before he turned back to Earth.
He wasn't especially interested in the planet's destruction. He was waiting for his new God of Order. Tiamut was about to appear.
As Phoenix fire surrounded Earth, the first reaction came from machines, not people. At all 5,326 seismic stations worldwide, the lines on their infrared screens jumped at the same moment. It was like the planet's heart had given one huge beat.
At that moment, Earth's magnetic field failed. Pigeons, sea turtles, and monarch butterflies lost their sense of direction. Animals wandered below while birds and butterflies flew in wild circles above.
An aurora appeared over Norway, even though there was no solar storm. Instead of the usual green, a dark gold color, never seen before, spread across the sky like melted bronze. Anyone who had seen the battles at Quantico or New York would have known that reddish-gold light. It was the color of adamantium.
People hardly had time to notice the changes before the ground started to shift. The middle of the Sahara rose up, pushing dunes aside like a retreating tide and revealing layers few had ever seen.
What was underneath wasn't rock. It was metal, shining with the same dark gold seen over Norway. Geometric patterns covered it, like the tracks on a giant circuit board. Orange-red light ran through them, glowing like lava but giving off no heat.
The Sahara was just one place where the ground rose.
Other points appeared in the Siberian Plain, the Australian outback, deep in the Amazon, under the ice in Antarctica and Greenland, and at the center of the Pacific Ocean. Together, these seven spots formed a perfect sphere under Earth's surface.
A part of the Pacific as big as North America boiled all at once. Huge columns of steam shot into the sky, starting a chain of storms worldwide.
Rain poured on every continent, warm instead of cold, salty, and with a hint of metal.
Then a hand started to break through in Siberia.
Five thousand square kilometers of frozen ground bulged and cracked like an eggshell. Through the gap, a finger covered in a shining, star-like material rose up. That one finger was taller than Mount Everest.
The hand flexed as it pushed out, and the strain ripped the Eurasian Plate apart. An earthquake stronger than any in history followed. Shock waves sped around the world, destroying every building still standing.
At the same time, the boiling water in the Pacific was pushed away. The ocean floor was exposed, showing Tiamut's huge forehead. His eyes opened, three pairs—six in total.
"Time to come out, Tiamut," Hawk's voice reached him.
"Death can be a mercy, especially when it's quick. This is one of those times. Don't let them suffer."
"Understood, my lord."
Tiamut rose right away. From space, Hawk and the others watched glowing cracks spread over Earth until the planet looked like an egg about to hatch. Its crust peeled off in huge sheets, with whole continents curling up like dried mud at the bottom of a lake.
Asia split down the middle, cutting the Himalayas in half. Europe broke apart like a cracker, and Africa bent along its center. Oceans rushed into the exposed mantle and turned instantly to steam, causing huge storms. Then the planet broke open.
At the center of the broken Earth, Tiamut stood up to his full height. He was in open space, with the shattered pieces of the planet spinning around him.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" The cry tore out of Charles before he could stop it.
"See?" Hawk turned away from admiring his new God of Order and raised an eyebrow at Charles's tear-streaked face. "That's how easy it is to destroy a world."
Tiamut drifted out of Earth's wreckage, all six eyes shining. He approached Hawk and lowered himself onto one knee in the void.
"My lord."
"Tiamut." Hawk floated above the Celestial, whose body looked huge even in the endless space, and placed his right hand on that massive forehead. His voice stayed cold, but now it had the serious weight of a god giving judgment.
"I, Hawk Phoenix, appoint you, Tiamut, as my God of Order. I charge you with overseeing time within my universe and preserving its stability."
A gold-and-crimson phoenix appeared behind him. It spread its wings with a ringing cry, then plunged toward Tiamut in a blinding rush.
Phoenix fire could burn anything, even a Celestial. But the flames around Tiamut weren't destroying him. They were welcoming him.
The fire faded, and Tiamut stepped out looking almost the same as before. Only a closer look showed something different, hard to describe but clear to see. He was no longer one of the Celestials.
Now he served Hawk as God of Order, marked by Hawk himself.
Hawk, very pleased, watched Tiamut stand up straight in front of him. He was about to speak when another voice cut in.
"I was wondering when you'd realize that time has to be maintained, not just created."
❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
~ 70 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)