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Alexander Pierce's apology was calm.
On the other end of the line, Gwen froze for a second, staring at the phone that had just been disconnected. She blinked.
The next second—
"Shit!"
The moment it clicked what was about to happen, Gwen's expression changed completely. In a rare display, she actually swore out loud, launched herself off the couch, and—barefoot, phone still in hand—bolted straight for the basement panic room.
She wasn't some delicate, naive damsel in distress. She was the police captain's daughter. Raised by George, she subscribed to firearms magazines every week and spent her free time reading professional law enforcement reports. She was tough as hell.
But this time, Gwen wasn't planning to face whatever was coming head-on.
First—
Hawk had specifically told her last time not to do that again. And she actually listened to him.
Second—
If HYDRA was making this move, it meant Hawk was joining the good guys. And at this critical moment—when Hawk was about to become a superhero—she refused to let herself become the reason he missed his big moment.
So, Hawk, go be a superhero. Go save the world.
She practically sprinted to the basement, punched in the code, yanked open the heavy door to the panic room, slipped inside, and locked all thirty-five mechanical bolts behind her. Only then did Gwen finally let out a breath of relief, thinking silently to herself.
And she was right.
The moment Alexander Pierce hung up the phone, he turned to the HYDRA strike team leader standing nearby and gave his orders in a low, commanding voice. "Send them in. Capture Gwen Stacy. This is our only shot. Success is not optional."
He'd just received word from SHIELD's surveillance center that Hawk was moving at maximum speed toward Japan.
And Ophelia had hung up on him earlier, which only confirmed it.
Add to that the strike team leader's report—multiple bases going dark one after another, each preceded by a flash of crimson light—and it painted a very clear picture.
Hawk was systematically wiping out their forces at a rate of one base every five minutes. And he was closing in fast.
That phone call had been Pierce's last gamble.
After all, the three Insight helicarriers were about to come online. Once they were fully operational, he would be unstoppable. Untouchable by anyone below a god.
He refused to fail. Not now. Not when he was this close.
Not even for Hawk.
At the end of the day, Alexander Pierce had never been a good man.
Most importantly, Hawk already knew Anna was a fake.
So, he was screwed either way. If he was going down regardless, why not roll the dice?
If he did nothing, he was guaranteed to lose. But if they managed to capture Gwen Stacy, there was a chance—however slim—that they could still win.
Alexander Pierce knew he had a gambling problem.
What he'd forgotten was the old saying:
Gamblers who keep doubling down end up with nothing.
Just as the HYDRA operative beside him nodded, pulled out his phone, and prepared to activate the two heavily armed strike teams that had been lying in wait outside Bleecker Street—teams equipped to breach the door in under ten seconds—
WHAM!
The Black Widow agent Natasha—disguised as the England Council representative—moved.
She launched into a flying cross armbar, slamming the gun-wielding HYDRA operative in front of her straight into the ground with a heavy thud. In one smooth motion, she disarmed him, and just as the HYDRA strike team leader dropped his phone and drew his sidearm to fire—
BANG!
The strike team leader's head snapped back. Natasha put a bullet through his skull.
The next second, Still on the ground, her thighs locked around another HYDRA operative's neck, Natasha fired repeatedly at the remaining four operatives as they scrambled to react.
Gunshots rang out. All four went down in various twisted positions.
The Eastern Council representative quickly joined the fight, snatching up a sidearm and aiming it at Alexander Pierce, who had instinctively bent down and was now trying to do something. "Don't move!"
Pierce frowned, ignoring the representative entirely, his eyes locked on the "England representative" slowly rising from the floor.
Natasha stood, tore off her synthetic face, and revealed her true features. Her eyes were ice-cold as she stared Pierce down. "You're pathetic, Pierce."
She didn't know exactly what had happened.
But, If Alexander Pierce had lost his mind enough to try kidnapping the Demon King's anchor, that meant one thing: Hawk wasn't sitting on the sidelines anymore. He'd entered the game.
And he was on SHIELD's side.
There was no way in hell she was going to let Pierce make that call.
Pierce looked at Natasha's true face and smiled.
"Natasha."
"Sorry, but your plan to use Gwen Stacy as leverage against Hawk isn't happening."
"Doesn't matter."
"My Insight helicarriers are already in the air."
Pierce smiled, turning toward the massive floor-to-ceiling windows.
...
Outside.
Accompanied by the deafening roar of massive engines, the three Insight helicarriers—equipped with Zola's algorithm—were rising through the launch bays one by one, ascending toward their designated positions.
It was plain to see that Captain America and the Winter Soldier were fighting on one of the carriers.
And it was equally obvious:
Cap was getting his ass kicked.
After all, this time around, Cap and Natasha had the support of the New York SHIELD branch, but they were missing Falcon—the guy with wings. And on top of that, Cap now knew the Winter Soldier was his best friend, Bucky.
Cap, who already fought everyone to a draw, was now holding back. Naturally, the Winter Soldier was dominating.
Natasha glanced outside briefly, her expression unchanging. She looked back at Pierce, her words cutting deep. "Once Hawk gets here, none of your plans are going to work. And you pushed him to our side yourself."
Pierce's face was blank as he stared at her. "You don't understand anything!"
Did he want to piss off Hawk?
No.
Of course he didn't. But he'd been stuck on a sinking ship with two idiots for teammates. And those two idiots had dragged him down with them from the very start.
Whether it was Strucker's clones or Zola's clones, once they were exposed, all of them were dead.
At the time, there had only been one option.
Use Anna to deceive Hawk, then pray he never figured it out.
They'd succeeded.
And then they'd failed. But the arrow was already loosed. There was no pulling it back now.
If he could do it all over again, he'd kick those two morons off the team in a heartbeat.
Pierce thought bitterly.
Natasha raised an eyebrow, catching something in his tone. "What else did you do to Hawk?"
Pierce's expression darkened.
Just then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A massive crash echoed through the room. Everyone inside turned toward the windows.
Outside, A thick bolt of lightning crackled across the sky. A moment later, a god made his entrance, wreathed in thunder.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
Thor—clad in his lightning-charged armor—appeared above the Insight helicarrier, swinging Mjölnir down as he landed on the command deck. A golden light flared across the entire ship's hull, rippling outward like waves on water.
But the carrier remained completely intact. It didn't even shake.
Natasha, who had also turned to watch, went pale. She snapped her gaze back to Pierce.
"Vibranium shielding!"
"That's right."
Pierce let out a low laugh. "That's why Project Insight was delayed until now. In this world, aside from Hawk, not even Thor can break through a Vibranium shield."
Natasha's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Hawk's already on his way."
Pierce fell silent.
Yes.
Hawk was on his way.
Just then, Natasha's concealed earpiece crackled to life with Commander Victoria Hand's voice. "Tony's here too."
The moment the words finished—
WHAM!
A streak of red light shot across the sky. Iron Man—Tony Stark—touched down on another Insight helicarrier in his signature superhero landing pose.
Immediately after, Tony's voice patched into the secure communications network Commander Hand had set up.
"What do I need to do?"
"Override the control systems. That's your specialty."
"Got it."
Tony, inside his Iron Man armor, nodded. "JARVIS!"
JARVIS responded instantly.
Sharon's voice came through, filled with excitement. "Commander, did you contact Thor and Tony?"
...
Back at the New York branch, Commander Hand—watching the arrival of the Avengers Trinity—visibly relaxed. "Tony was reached through Coulson. Coulson has Pepper Potts' private number. He got in touch with Tony in South Korea."
"And Thor...?"
"Hawk passed through New Mexico. Thor sensed him, and after they parted ways, he came here."
"Hawk's coming too?"
Sharon, currently leading SHIELD agents in a firefight against HYDRA operatives, sounded thrilled. "Hawk's in the fight!"
Commander Hand looked at the massive screen, watching as SHIELD bases across the map lit up one by one. She listened as surviving agents from various locations began reporting in, and she smiled. "Yes. Hawk's in the fight."
Sharon's spirits soared. "Where is he now? Has he arrived yet?"
Just as Commander Hand was about to answer, another voice echoed through the command center.
"West Virginia SHIELD division, Level 6 Agent Jack Marsh reporting to command."
"Phoenix just liberated us."
With the liberation of the West Virginia division, every state leading to D.C. on the main screen lit up.
Commander Hand's eyes brightened.
"Hold tight. Phoenix is almost there."
"More than—"
"Not almost."
"He's already here."
Natasha, still locked in her standoff with Pierce, watched as a rainbow-colored streak of light shot into view, racing toward them at incredible speed. She spoke calmly, then turned to look at Pierce.
"Hawk's here."
"You've lost."
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~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
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