On the living room couch.
Hawk leaned back against the cushions.
Gwen, cross-legged, eyes bright with intelligence and a cool, analytical face, began breaking it down.
"You're saying the time Mephisto got ambushed by Yahweh was right after you received Blood God Madora's dimensional space—are you sure?"
"Mephisto said so himself."
"Then that tracks."
"Let's assume—assume Mephisto really wasn't risking his life to put on a two-man show with Yahweh to fool you this time."
Gwen repeated that her analysis rested on the premise of "Mephisto is actually behaving for once," then continued.
"You and Mephisto formed an alliance."
"Yahweh hates that."
"If the two of you stick together, he has no path to take Earth back."
"Originally he meant to creep in quietly, but now he's exposed. To succeed, the best first move is to break your alliance with Mephisto."
"Madora is the key bait to break that alliance."
"Michael first impersonates the Blood God to convince you Mephisto and Yahweh are actually in cahoots."
"And to make you buy it, 'Madora' dies right in front of you."
"He even leaves a dimension behind."
"If you go all the way with the act—who do you trust: the punctuation-proof liar Mephisto, or a dimension lord's dying warning?"
"Obviously the latter."
"But!"
As Hawk's impromptu intel analyst, Gwen grew more animated. She paused for effect, then pressed on.
"'Sowing discord' is actually a low-grade tactic."
"Because if the two targets calm down and start reconciling information, the ploy collapses."
"You, clearly, are very calm."
Gwen glanced at Hawk, who was listening like a model student in Dr. Stacy's lecture. "You didn't let anger take the wheel. You thought, 'Call Mephisto first and hear his story.'"
Hawk smiled like the praised student.
Gwen kept going.
"But Yahweh anticipated that."
"The key to successful discord is severing communications between the allies."
"So while using 'Madora' to steer you, he also sent Michael to ambush Mephisto."
"You said before: as long as Mephisto is inside the Hell Dimension, no matter how badly he's hurt, he won't die, right?"
"Right."
Hawk answered Dr. Stacy's question. "Even if I hadn't gone, at worst Michael would've stripped him down to a bald pole, but once Mephisto healed, until Yahweh finishes those 'Hell Angels,' they can't erase him."
Michael cannot finish Mephisto for good.
Hawk himself can't, not quickly.
Gwen spread her hands.
"Exactly. So why send Michael now if Yahweh knows he can't kill Mephisto in that window?"
"To weaken Mephisto's strength?"
"That's part of it."
Gwen nodded at the student raising his hand. "More so, while he's sowing discord with you, he's simultaneously sowing it into Mephisto. Think—what does Mephisto do the moment he escapes the crisis?"
Hawk nodded.
"He comes to me."
"But you're carrying the Blood God's dimensional scent."
"And you've met Yahweh—some of his aura has to be on you too, right?"
Gwen looked at him. "So when Mephisto sees Yahweh's scent on you and a dimension that used to belong to him, will he think his Hell turned to rubble because you teamed up with Yahweh—and refuse to even meet?"
Refuse to meet was the mild version.
He'd probably cobble together another Hell Warlord and try to take Hawk's head before his showdown with Yahweh.
Hawk turned it over, met Gwen's gaze, and stroked his chin.
"So you're saying the true target of the discord was Mephisto."
"The best targets are the naturally suspicious."
"Those who are powerful and calm resist this tactic."
"That's you."
"But Mephisto…"
Gwen shrugged and looked at Hawk. "Too bad for Yahweh he miscounted one thing. You didn't rush to Mephisto, which made Yahweh think you wouldn't go, which made him think he could keep grinding Mephisto down. He didn't expect that after you squashed his projection and he lost track of you, you'd head straight for Hell."
Hawk dipped his head and smiled at Gwen. "Call it a happy accident."
If Yahweh's shadow hadn't appeared, Hawk had planned to go to Hell anyway.
But then Yahweh would've known and warned Michael to pull out.
Then, Mephisto—freshly mauled by Heaven—would see the ex-Yahweh Blood Dimension on Hawk and assume Hawk took Yahweh's payoff to 'help.'
Suspicious, hot-blooded Mephisto would take the bait.
But Hawk only went to Hell after Yahweh's projection showed up and got swatted. Yahweh himself wasn't in the solar system and couldn't instantly sense Hawk's move or tell Michael to withdraw.
Therefore—
With Gwen's help, Hawk traced the contours of Yahweh's scheme, then shook his head with a soft laugh and glanced at Gwen. "Think that old ghoul Yahweh will cough blood when he finds out?"
Gwen smiled, then her face turned solemn.
"Whether he coughs blood, I don't know. But I do know: now that you and Mephisto spoiled his plot, he'll try something else."
"Let him."
Hawk shrugged. "I blew up the Blood Dimension. Even if he hid a backdoor I couldn't see, it's useless now."
That, too, was why he blew it up.
Plan for the worst.
The Blood Dimension meant almost nothing to his ceiling anyway.
In a word:
A Saint infinitely close to Silver is still a Bronze mutt.
Near-light is the same.
Dress it up all you want—near-light isn't light. He felt nothing letting that dimension pop.
Hawk sounded easy.
Gwen, frowning, looked worried. "Clearly Yahweh isn't the pristine figure Scripture paints. He's insidious. If not for luck this time, he might have split you and Mephisto. Don't get careless."
Hawk nodded.
"Lady Luck's on my side."
"That's not luck. That's you."
"Uh…"
"Because you're good."
"…"
Hawk blinked at her, suspicion creeping in.
"Feels like you're insulting me, Gwen."
"I'm not."
Gwen shook her head. "It's true: your goodness is why fortune smiled. Schemes work by gripping the dark in the heart. Before a good heart, they fail."
Hawk paused.
"Really?"
"Of course."
Gwen smiled.
"Back in Waterfall Town with Klaus—if you were a shade darker, you could've forced him to submit."
"True."
"But you didn't. You talked first, and that led to the Dr. Merrick lead."
"And this time too."
"Because of your goodness, you chose to give Mephisto a chance. Even though his character is… suspect, you didn't take one side at face value, so you went to Hell and uncovered Yahweh's plot."
"So…"
"It's not Lady Luck with you."
"It's your kindness and your calm that make her smile."
"…"
Hawk listened, the doubt fading from his face, replaced by a growing grin.
"Hahaha!"
"Right."
"I am kind—and because of that, Lady Luck smiles on me."
He nodded enthusiastically. "I really am pretty kind. Look at Alexander Pierce—that old snake. I gave him two chances and still didn't turn him to ash."
Seeing her student getting cocky after a candy, Gwen gave him a tap with the stick.
"Don't get smug. Yahweh won't accept defeat just because this failed."
"Of course."
Hawk drew a breath, rubbed his chin, and looked at her. "Strategist, what do you think he plays next?"
Gwen shook her head.
"No idea."
"But…"
"It'll be another trap aimed at you."
"Then let it come."
Hawk spread his hands. "You know what I thought the moment I realized Yahweh was of African descent?"
Gwen shook her head.
Hawk smiled. "The last thing I worry about is their schemes."
Gwen blinked, then chuckled and shook her head.
"If you keep your cool, I'm not worried you'll fall for anything. I just worry you'll get cocky."
"That won't happen."
"As long as I don't rush, only my enemies get anxious."
He pulled her back into his arms.
Nestled against him, Gwen glanced up and smiled.
"Mm."
"I believe you."
"…"
(End of Chapter)
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