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Sokovia.
A small landlocked country in Eastern Europe. Mountainous. Infertile soil. And perpetually caught in the middle of civil war.
Warlords everywhere.
Put it this way—whoever was in charge today might not make it to tomorrow. Hell, sometimes they didn't even make it to the afternoon. By dinnertime, the current warlord's head would be hanging from the presidential palace flagpole.
But, none of that mattered to Hawk, who had just arrived.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A sonic boom cracked across Sokovia's sky. Hawk's form appeared immediately after, his gaze locking onto a sprawling castle complex built into the mountainside, nestled deep within a frozen forest.
The next second, Hawk was already inside the castle.
But—
The place was empty. Completely deserted. Papers scattered everywhere. At the main entrance, several vehicles sat abandoned—half-burned, as if someone had tried to destroy them before fleeing and ran out of time.
Hawk glanced around. His Sixth Sense expanded, blanketing the entire castle in an instant. He locked onto a location. His form vanished.
When he reappeared, he was standing in a spacious room on the third floor.
This room was also empty. Countless papers littered the floor. Pens and cables were scattered across the desk.
Hawk scanned the room briefly, then his gaze fixed on a specific spot—the place where the Mind Stone, one of the Infinity Stones, had once been kept.
He possessed the Reality Stone. While he couldn't sense distant Infinity Stones, when they were close enough, he could feel their energy signature.
And this place—this was where the Mind Stone had been.
But not anymore.
Hawk's thoughts raced, and he immediately understood why the castle was deserted.
Alexander Pierce had tipped them off.
No—
More accurately, Hawk had tipped off Alexander Pierce.
Hawk remembered the fake "Anna" who'd called him, when he'd mentioned wanting to borrow the Mind Scepter.
That single statement had been enough. Because of it, the Mind Scepter that should have been here wasn't here anymore.
"Pierce!"
"A HYDRA leader through and through."
Hawk let out a cold laugh.
The next second, Alexander Pierce—who had been serving his sentence in the Third Prison, the Stone Mill—was suddenly yanked away in a flash of black light and cast directly into the Eighth Prison.
The Frozen Prison!
As far as the eye could see, this place was infinitely vast. Ice sheets, blizzards, and freezing winds constantly ravaged the landscape. Any soul sent here had only one fate: freezing to death.
Dying from the cold. Slowly. Painfully.
But just like the Stone Mill Prison, this death wasn't permanent. It was endless.
The moment Alexander Pierce appeared in the Frozen Prison, he felt the bone-chilling cold. Almost instinctively, he wrapped his arms around himself. His teeth were already chattering.
After tossing Pierce into the Eighth Prison, Hawk stopped paying attention to him.
He didn't bother asking Pierce where Strucker had fled with the Mind Stone.
No need.
If Strucker had the guts, he could hide with the Mind Stone for the rest of his life.
Hawk turned to leave, preparing to head back to New York, when a sudden thought made him pause. His form flickered, and he appeared in a sealed room. His gaze fell on a circular device that had just activated.
Just then—
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
The moment Hawk set foot in the room, something triggered. Metal panels—glowing with a faint golden light—shot out from the walls, ceiling, and floor. In the blink of an eye, the entire room was sealed.
BOOM!
Hawk's eyes turned crimson. Phoenix Rays—hot enough to vaporize ordinary humans instantly—blasted into the metal walls. They didn't even leave a dent.
"Vibranium!"
"Correct." Just as Hawk identified the metal, the circular device hummed to life and projected a hologram.
A man's voice echoed through the chamber as his projection materialized before Hawk.
Hawk looked at the holographic figure standing before him and narrowed his eyes.
The man in the projection seemed pleased to see Hawk. His weathered face wore a smile. His voice carried a metallic rasp.
"Mr. Phoenix. Hello. We finally meet."
"Wolfgang von Strucker!"
Hawk spoke the projection's name aloud, glancing at the Vibranium walls surrounding him. His expression remained calm as he looked at Strucker. "I'm the one who led you to Vibranium in the first place. You really think this can hold me?"
Strucker smiled in response. "Of course not. I never intended to trap you with this."
Hawk laughed.
"Then what's the point?"
"To talk."
"Fine!"
The smile on Hawk's face didn't waver as he looked at Strucker's projection. "Give me an address. I'll come to you in person. Then we can have a nice long chat."
Strucker laughed heartily.
"Mr. Phoenix, I will absolutely not give you my current location. After all, I just moved in."
"Pierce tipped you off??"
"Yes."
Strucker admitted it without hesitation. "Alexander Pierce and I disagree on many things. But we share one common goal: making HYDRA great again."
Whether it was him or Alexander Pierce, their goal was the same—to restore HYDRA to greatness.
They just had different methods.
And judging by how things were going—
His approach was slightly better.
Hawk, hearing Strucker's declaration, let out an undisguised snort of derision. "Make HYDRA great again? Over my dead body."
Strucker's smile remained fixed in place.
"Mr. Phoenix, no one in this world is immortal. Not even you."
"Really?"
Hawk raised an eyebrow, his expression tinged with amusement as he looked at Strucker. "So you're saying you've already found a way to kill me?"
Strucker chuckled but didn't pursue the topic further.
After all, both his plan and the one Dr. Zola had left behind still needed time.
So—
"Let's make a deal, Mr. Phoenix."
"No."
"..."
Strucker's smile faltered slightly. "You haven't even heard our terms yet, Mr. Phoenix."
The corner of Hawk's mouth curled upward. He looked at Strucker's projection with undisguised mockery. "Strucker, you'd better pray you can hide deep enough. Hide long enough. And whatever you're cooking up, you'd better pray it works. Otherwise, you're going to suffer. Forever. Endlessly."
With that—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Hawk's eyes flared crimson. His Phoenix Rays blasted into the projection device. With an explosive BANG, the equipment shattered. Strucker's projection—frozen in an expression of shock—vanished.
WHOOSH!
Hawk took one step forward and appeared in the sky above the HYDRA castle. With a single punch, the entire structure—nestled into the mountainside—began to collapse in a violent tremor. The destruction was visible to the naked eye.
Within moments, the once-grand castle had been reduced to rubble.
Hawk turned without looking back and headed toward New York.
A deal? What made them think they were on his level?
He was the Strongest on Earth.
What was HYDRA? A self-important villain organization that couldn't even stage a proper rebellion. Delusional idiots playing dress-up.
They wanted to negotiate with him? What made them think they qualified?
Mephisto had tried to use his sister's soul to blackmail Hawk, and Hawk hadn't given in. Now HYDRA thought holding the Mind Stone gave them leverage?
What were they smoking?
Hawk had only said he could use the Mind Stone to speed up his comprehension of the Seventh Sense. He'd never said it was the only way.
Without the Mind Stone to cheat with, it would just take longer.
So what? He'd take his time.
Hawk didn't care.
How long had it even been since he awakened his Cosmo?
Like he'd told Strucker—if he had the guts, he could hide with the Mind Stone for the rest of his life.
So, Negotiate? Negotiate my ass.
If they wanted to stay hidden forever, fine. But the moment they showed their faces, Hawk would kill them—and the Mind Stone would be his anyway.
...
Hawk's thoughts churned as he returned to New York. His form flickered, and he appeared in the backyard of 521A Bleecker Street.
The two SHIELD agents standing guard in the yard instinctively drew their weapons when Hawk appeared out of nowhere. But they quickly recovered.
"Mr. Phoenix."
Both agents were among those Hawk had rescued earlier, so they recognized him. They quickly greeted him.
Gwen, who'd been in the living room speaking with Commander Victoria Hand, heard the commotion in the backyard. The moment the agents spoke, she ran outside. Her eyes lit up when she saw Hawk. She immediately threw her arms around him.
"Hawk! You're back!"
"Yeah."
Hawk embraced his fiancée, his gaze shifting to Commander Victoria Hand, who had also stepped out of the living room. "Thank you."
Commander Hand shook her head. "We're the ones who should be thanking you, Hawk. Without your help, this crisis could have ended very differently."
She meant every word.
Without Hawk's intervention, God only knew how this would have played out.
Especially when she thought about those three Insight Helicarriers loaded with the targeting algorithm.
But thanks to Hawk, only one carrier was a total loss. One was damaged. And one was completely intact.
The intact one was the carrier Tony Stark had commandeered.
Thor's carrier was heavily damaged and would need major repairs.
The one Hawk had punched a hole through? Completely unsalvageable. Just the cost of pulling it out of the river would bankrupt SHIELD.
But compared to HYDRA successfully launching all three, it was a blessing in disguise.
Commander Hand smiled faintly. "Since you're back, we won't intrude any longer. We'll be going now."
Hawk nodded.
"Take care."
"Goodbye, Commander Hand."
Gwen smiled and waved as well.
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~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
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~# Bonus Chapter every 300PS