~ Support & Read 70 Advanced Chapters on Patreon!
❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
Alright.
That was bullshit...
If the universe Gwen was currently in truly held no secrets from Hawk, he wouldn't have needed to burn an entire galaxy just to project himself here.
The real reason Hawk recognized Reed Richards and Sue Storm instantly wasn't their faces. It was their uniforms.
Everyone knows the Fantastic Four are Marvel's weirdest team. The Avengers pretended they were family. The Fantastic Four actually were.
Once the team gained public recognition, Reed designed matching tactical suits for them and slapped their highly recognizable logo on everything they owned—their headquarters, their cars, their jets.
A big blue '4'.
So, the second Hawk saw that '4' on Reed and Sue's chests, he knew exactly who he was dealing with.
He didn't drop their names to show off. He did it as a warning.
Another universal truth: where you find superheroes, supervillains are never far behind.
Hawk was absolutely confident that as long as he was breathing, Gwen wouldn't lose a single hair on her head. But, like he always said—better safe than sorry.
Even though a wave of relief had washed over him the second his projection arrived and he saw Gwen safely with the Fantastic Four, relief didn't mean silence. A warning still had to be delivered.
He looked at Reed first.
"Reed Richards. Hailed as the smartest man on the planet. Mutated by cosmic radiation. Down here they call you Mister Fantastic."
He turned to Sue.
"Sue Storm. Reed's wife. Invisible Woman. You can bend light to turn yourself and others invisible, but your powers go far beyond just that. You simply haven't unlocked your full potential yet."
"Johnny Storm. Human Torch. You can generate fire to envelop your entire body and achieve flight. Sue's little brother."
"Ben Grimm. The Thing. Mutated into a massive entity made entirely of living orange rock. You possess superhuman strength and durability to match. I know it hurts. You think it ruined your face."
Hawk's voice stayed even, dropping the dossiers with an icy, matter-of-fact tone.
"You are my wife's friends. That makes you mine."
"My true body cannot physically cross over to this dimension just yet."
"So, I'm asking you to look after her."
"This is a request."
He paused, laying his cards straight on the table.
"Of course, you are also free to interpret it as a direct warning to your entire planet."
"If anything happens to my wife in this universe—if I ever learn she shed even a single tear—the absolute second my true body arrives, your Earth will be wiped from existence right alongside the rest of your universe."
Catching Gwen's sudden frown from the corner of his eye, Hawk instantly shifted tones, a soft chuckle breaking through. He extended his right hand toward Reed.
"I prefer to get the ugly business out of the way first. Nice to meet you. Hawk Phoenix. Just Hawk."
Reed, still unsettled by Hawk's earlier threat, stared at the offered hand. He looked up and saw Hawk's faint smile. After a moment's hesitation, Reed reached out, his hand passing through the hologram to mimic a handshake.
"Reed Richards. Just Reed."
Sue followed suit, offering a phantom handshake of her own. "Sue."
Then, unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, "That galaxy... 5.8 billion light-years away. Is it really yours?"
Hawk offered a faint smile. "When my true body arrives, I'll take you on a tour of my universe so you can see for yourself."
Sue returned the smile. "I'll hold you to that."
Hawk turned his attention back to his wife. "I have to go. The energy from burning that galaxy is almost tapped out. I'm sorry, Gwen. I broke my promise."
He had fully intended to bring her home before she gave birth.
But plans change.
"But I won't make you wait much longer."
Gwen wasn't angry about the broken promise. She smiled warmly. "Maybe I'll find the way home first."
Hawk knew she was referring to the time she'd tracked him down deep in the wilderness. He let out a soft laugh. "Good. Let's see who finds who first this time."
Gwen tilted her head. "Is there a prize for the winner?"
"Of course."
"Like what?"
"Name it. Whatever you want, I'll make it happen."
"Wait... so if I don't find you first, you're not going to give it to me?"
Hawk's smile froze completely.
Gwen broke into a radiant grin. "I'm just messing with you. Don't worry, Hawk. Sue and Reed have been great to me. Plus, the science in this world is different enough from ours to keep me busy. I'm actually doing pretty well here. Though... my dad might have a few choice words for you."
"..." Hawk raised an eyebrow. "George..."
"Dad has stated, on multiple occasions, that the second we get back, he's going to empty an entire crate of ammo into you."
"I'll let him," Hawk said, his tone dead serious. "I promise I won't even dodge."
It made sense for George to be angry. Hawk had taken Gwen away from his protection. They had only been married for two months before being separated, not just by distance but by dimensions, while she was pregnant. It was all Hawk's fault.
So if George wanted to empty a magazine into him, or even drop a nuclear warhead on his head, Hawk would stand tall and take it.
If you make a mistake, you own it... You take the hit. Just this once.
Feeling the multiversal energy stream rapidly destabilizing, Hawk locked eyes with Gwen, his gaze impossibly tender.
"Wait for me."
"I will," Gwen replied softly, her eyes reflecting the exact same depth of emotion.
The next second.
Under the watchful eyes of Gwen, Sue, and Reed, Hawk's projection began to glitch and fade, growing increasingly translucent. With the final, dying ember of Phoenix Fire, his silhouette and overwhelming presence completely vanished from the room.
At that exact moment.
5.8 billion light-years away, in the center of the Phoenix Galaxy, the huge phantom image of the World Tree faded away. The whole galaxy became quiet, as if it had gone to sleep.
Once again.
Without Hawk's Phoenix Universe power actively anchoring the projection in this reality, the newly formed Phoenix Galaxy lost its primary power source and went dormant.
However... the galaxy had already been ignited. As long as Hawk's true body could eventually shatter the multiversal barrier and physically step into this dimension, his catastrophic power would seamlessly sync with it, bringing his full might to bear.
——————————
Back in the living room, just seconds after Hawk disappeared, Gwen's brow suddenly shot up like she'd just remembered something.
"Oh no. I forgot to ask him if he's been watering my plants while I've been gone."
"..."
Reed and Sue, who had practically jumped out of their skin assuming she had forgotten some vital, multiverse-saving intel, could only exchange an exhausted look.
But, thanks to Gwen's completely trivial concern, the crushing, suffocating tension that Hawk's divine projection had left behind finally broke.
"I'm heading to the lab," Reed announced, the first to snap back to reality, and swiftly exited the apartment.
Sue glanced down at the two tiny babies swaddled in Gwen's arms, then looked up at her. "So. William and Bella?"
Gwen nodded, eyes dropping affectionately to little William and little Bella. "Yeah. William and Bella. Those are the names their dad picked out for them."
Sue smiled warmly. "They're beautiful names."
Gwen looked up, scoffing playfully. "If he had shown up even ten minutes later, his naming rights would have been revoked entirely."
Hearing Gwen's playful threat and seeing her happy smile, Sue didn't argue. She knew Gwen was joking. After talking a bit longer, Sue excused herself and left the apartment too.
——————————
When she took the elevator down to the main laboratory, she found that it wasn't just Reed pulling the late shift. Her younger brother, Johnny, and Ben were already there.
The Baxter Building wasn't just the Fantastic Four's official headquarters—it was also their home. They all lived here.
Reed stood at the main console with his arms crossed, watching the energy readings displayed by the AI.
Sue walked over. "What's the verdict?"
"Unfathomable," Reed said grimly. "If that energy signature had been directed at Earth instead of serving as a conduit, the planet would have been annihilated in a fraction of a second."
As he spoke, Reed ordered the system to run a combat simulation. A wave of Phoenix Fire washed over Earth, turning the entire planet into cosmic ash in the blink of an eye.
Sue watched the terrifying simulation play out, then looked at Reed. "So, he wasn't bluffing. He really could wipe us out in a single second."
Reed confirmed, his voice solemn, a ingrained dread flashing in his eyes.
It was a common flaw among brilliant, proud men: they believed that with great power came great responsibility and that the world would fall apart without them to protect it.
Take Tony Stark, for example. He designed and built the Hulkbuster armor specifically because he was terrified of what the Hulk could do to the planet.
Then there was the theoretical Phoenix-Buster.
Tony had never openly admitted it, but Hawk knew perfectly well that Tony had borrowed his Black Phoenix mantle solely to see if he could reverse-engineer a suit capable of countering the Phoenix.
Hawk never bothered asking. First, there was no point. Second, he was genuinely curious, almost eagerly anticipating whether Tony could actually pull it off.
So... if Tony Stark operated that way, Reed Richards—hailed as the smartest man in this world, who hadn't yet experienced a proper, humbling beatdown from reality—was no different. Staring at the simulation of Earth being vaporized in one second, Reed couldn't help but ask himself one terrifying question.
If Hawk truly decided to annihilate their Earth, or their entire universe...
What could they possibly do to stop it?
Was there anything they could do?
Reed Richards fell into a grim silence.
❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)