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"Gwen, you should have seen my sister's face."
"It's like she couldn't believe I actually managed to find myself a girlfriend."
"That expression..."
"Man."
"She thought her brother spent the last four years living in misery."
"Too bad she can't come back to the real world yet, so you won't be able to meet her for a while."
The moment Hawk returned to New York, he found his fiancée Gwen—who had just woken up and was pulling clothes from the dryer—and immediately launched into sharing the joy of rescuing his sister.
Well...
Half rescued, anyway.
At least until he fully manifested his Cosmo or cloned a body for his sister, Anya wouldn't be able to truly resurrect.
But that wasn't important.
What mattered was that he could now sink his consciousness into his Underworld anytime he wanted and visit his sister Anya, who was currently living in the Elysian Fields.
Even though the Reality Stone had already been used to solidify his current power level and couldn't be used for anything else, the Underworld was still part of his Cosmo. Which meant modifying the Elysian Fields was still easy enough.
Bottom line?
Hawk was happy.
Extremely happy.
Gwen sat on the couch, chin resting on one hand, smiling as she listened to Hawk—who had barely walked in the door before grabbing her and rambling excitedly about everything that had happened.
She didn't interrupt. Just quietly listened, sharing in his joy.
Though—
As Gwen watched Hawk happily insist that his past four years "weren't that hard," her mind drifted back through the countless memories she had of him since ninth grade.
Not that hard?
...Sure.
Whatever makes you happy.
Gwen pushed the flashes of memory aside, smiling as she listened to Hawk proudly declare how beautiful his sister was now. Finally, she gently interrupted with a teasing question. "So is your sister prettier, or am I?"
Hawk, who had seemed ready to talk for hours, went instantly silent.
He blinked, staring at his fiancée, who was still propping up her chin with one hand, smiling innocently at him.
Gwen's smile was radiant.
Hawk's expression turned helpless.
"Gwen, I'm trying to share my happiness with you."
"I know."
Gwen stood up from the couch, cupped Hawk's face in her hands, kissed him gently, then spoke with complete sincerity. "You did amazing. But you'll be the most amazing once you actually bring Anya back to life. So how about this—I'll go upstairs and finish folding the laundry, and you keep working hard. Once you finally resurrect Anya and she meets me, she'll know her sister-in-law is real, won't she?"
Hawk blinked, meeting Gwen's gaze thoughtfully, then nodded slowly.
"You're right."
"Good. I'm going to fold clothes now."
Gwen smiled again, then padded barefoot toward the stairs, her steps light and graceful. She disappeared up to the second floor in moments.
Hawk sat on the couch, watching her go. Only after she vanished from sight did he snap out of his daze.
He had to admit—Gwen was right.
Anya hadn't truly come back to life yet.
So—
He'd save the real celebration for when she was fully resurrected. When that day came, he could throw a huge party, invite everyone he knew, and introduce his sister Anya to the world with pride.
Hawk nodded to himself, pulled out his phone, scrolled to his HYDRA contact Anna's number, and dialed.
Cloning, after all, was illegal.
Which meant HYDRA was definitely the right group to ask.
After all, HYDRA was basically the poster child for illegal activities.
After a moment—
Hawk lowered the phone, staring at the unanswered call.
What the hell?
No answer?
That didn't make sense. Was she on vacation or something?
Oh, right.
It was still Christmas break. Fair enough.
He'd try someone else.
Hawk's mind immediately jumped to someone who would definitely be reachable during the holidays. He scrolled through his contacts, found his SHIELD friend Sharon's number, and hit dial.
If HYDRA wasn't picking up, no problem.
He still had SHIELD.
After all, as the saying goes—HYDRA and SHIELD have always been two sides of the same coin. If HYDRA knew where to find cloning tech, SHIELD had at least a fifty-percent chance of knowing too.
Soon enough—
The call connected.
Sharon's enthusiastic voice immediately filled Hawk's ear the moment the line opened.
"Hawk! You're back already?"
"I'm already back in New York."
"That fast? So does that mean Mephisto—"
"He's not dead."
Hawk shook his head with a dry laugh. "He's the ruler of a Hell dimension. In his own realm, he's effectively immortal."
Even Odin and Eternity couldn't kill Mephisto. The best they could do was beat the hell out of him.
Was Hawk stronger than Odin and Eternity?
Not even close.
There was only one way to kill Mephisto—cut off Hell's energy supply. Stop all souls from entering, and eventually, Mephisto would wither and die inside his own dimension.
But that would take forever.
Which was exactly why Odin and Eternity had both decided it wasn't worth the effort.
And it was the same reason Hawk had made the same choice.
There was no help for it.
Mephisto was like a stubborn piece of gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe—disgusting to look at, and even more disgusting when you tried to scrape it off.
The best approach was simply to ignore it.
Either that, or waste your precious time trying to outlast him in a battle of attrition. But that was a losing trade.
Still—
Just because Hawk couldn't do it now didn't mean he couldn't do it later.
Once he fully manifested his Cosmo, once his Underworld had a full army of Specters at his command, the first thing he'd do was wipe Mephisto off the face of the universe.
Let's see you try to blackmail me then, you bastard.
Hawk's thoughts churned as he chatted casually with Sharon for a few more minutes before steering the conversation back to the real reason he'd called.
"By the way, does SHIELD have any research into cloning technology?"
"Cloning?"
Sharon paused, then replied instinctively. "Hawk, cloning is explicitly banned by the Big Five. Any cloning experiments are illegal."
Hawk hummed in acknowledgment.
"I know. So do you have any?"
"I'd need to report this up the chain."
"Thanks."
"No problem. When I get back to New York, just buy me afternoon tea and we'll call it even."
"Deal."
Hawk smiled as he agreed. "Are you coming back today?"
Sharon took a deep breath, staring at the ticket in her hand for yet another motorcycle stunt show—her second purchase after the first one had been a bust. "No. I came to Texas to see a stunt show, and I'm going to see one before I leave. Otherwise, this whole vacation will have been for nothing."
Hawk shrugged.
"Alright. Give me a call when you're back in New York, and I'll treat you to that tea."
"Don't worry, I'll definitely remind you."
"See you."
"See you."
Hawk smiled as he hung up, then rolled his eyes thoughtfully before standing up from the couch.
He headed toward his study, planning to search online for cloning-related information.
After all, if Marvel had one thing in abundance, it was scientists.
Especially wild, independent scientists operating outside the system—those were everywhere.
If SHIELD didn't have what he needed, he could always throw some money at a rogue scientist and let them figure it out slowly.
He refused to believe that cloning tech in the Marvel Universe was harder to develop than Tony Stark's current nanotech suit project.
Of course—
If the wild scientist he found ended up failing, that was fine. He could accept failure. As long as they didn't try to scam him with a PowerPoint presentation full of empty promises.
But if they did try to scam him with a PowerPoint—
Heh.
I'll show you what it means to wish you were dead.
After all, his Underworld didn't just have the Elysian Fields. It also had eight terrifying Prisons of Hell.
Hawk opened his computer, his thoughts wandering as he clicked on the profile of a scientist who claimed to be researching cow cloning.
Several days later—
Early morning.
Hawk was practically dragged out of bed by Gwen, who had invited him—or more accurately, hauled him out the door by force.
After helping the still-groggy Hawk buckle his seatbelt, Gwen floored the gas pedal and drove her Toyota Corolla straight toward City Hall.
Today was the first day back after Christmas break, which meant City Hall was officially open again. It was also the day of Hawk's scheduled appointment to change his surname.
Gwen glanced at Hawk, who still looked half-asleep, with a mix of curiosity and concern. "Wait, seriously? It was only three times last night, and you're already out of commission?"
Hawk's vacant stare snapped back into focus at visible speed. He turned to Gwen with complete seriousness.
"I'm perfectly fine, thank you."
"Then why do you look like—"
"It has nothing to do with sleep."
Hawk leaned back against the headrest, rubbing his forehead, which was slightly swollen from his recent attempts to comprehend the Seventh Sense.
That's right.
He'd already found the doorway to the Seventh Sense.
It might have been because he'd finally rescued his sister from Hell, which had brought him a sense of clarity and completion he hadn't felt in years.
After all, saving his sister had been the core motivation behind his thousand-day training regimen—ten thousand punches every single day.
It had become an obsession.
And once that obsession was fulfilled, the fog lifted. For a brief, shining moment, Hawk felt as if he'd broken through the clouds and glimpsed the sun.
That was when he'd found the door to the Seventh Sense.
But—
Seeing the door and being able to open it were two entirely different things.
Forget it.
Why struggle?
He'd just cheat with the Mind Stone.
Hawk pressed his fingers against his slightly aching forehead, having spent days trying to comprehend the Seventh Sense on his own, and decisively abandoned the self-taught route.
Using the Mind Stone would work just as well. It wasn't like the Seventh Sense he gained through the Mind Stone would be any less legitimate than one he earned through meditation.
That didn't make sense.
The moment he let go of his stubborn insistence on doing it the hard way, clarity returned. His spirit, energy, and focus all snapped back into alignment.
An hour later—
Hawk and Gwen walked out of City Hall together.
The surname change was complete. From today forward, his legal name was Hawk Phoenix.
But the happiest person about it was Gwen.
After all, she was probably the only woman in all of New York who got to choose her married surname before the wedding even happened.
"Happy now?"
"Absolutely."
Gwen made no effort to hide her joy, smiling brightly at Hawk. "Mr. Phoenix."
Hawk chuckled.
"Then let's go home, future Mrs. Phoenix."
"Yes, Mr. Phoenix!"
Gwen's eyes curved into crescent moons.
And then—
Just as she was about to take Hawk's arm and leave, her phone rang.
It was Mary Jane.
Gwen answered.
"Hey, MJ—"
"Oh my God, Gwen—Peter's missing!"
"..."
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