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High above a burnt-out galaxy.
The fires below faded, and the galaxy fell silent. Hawk withdrew his projection from Reed's universe and stared at the cosmic graveyard beneath him. His face stayed cold and unreadable.
No billions of lives down there. No divine corpses.
The sector beneath his feet was a barren, dead zone. Life had never taken root here.
The apocalyptic scene Reed and Sue saw—the optic blast destroying a God, the billions screaming as their worlds fell apart—was all for show. It was a hyper-realistic illusion made with the Reality Stone.
The bottom line was simple: Hawk could be brutal, but only if someone pushed him first. If people left him alone, he thought of himself as a decent guy.
He used the Reality Stone to show a galaxy-ending genocide for one reason: to scare others away.
He needed Reed's universe to understand the stakes.
Touch her, and you die.
He had the power to follow through. Reasons didn't matter to him—only results. If Gwen was hurt, he wouldn't listen to excuses. He would just destroy their reality.
Barbarians respect violence, not virtue. Hawk had plenty of experience dealing with barbarians.
Take the Arda Galaxy Gods.
The holographic massacre was only an illusion. But killing the Arda Gods was real. Hawk wasn't called Demon God for nothing.
But he hadn't killed them in this dead zone or today... He slaughtered them a month ago in another galaxy.
Just like he told Gwen, the Arda Gods aided a cosmic tyrant. They deserved it. Side with the Celestial Gargaratus, you die. Simple as that.
To his friends, Hawk was warm.
To strangers, he was indifferent. Let fate sort them out.
Enemies? Hawk's approach was scorched earth. He didn't need to see the Arda Gods working with Gargaratus directly. Their Chief God still carried Gargaratus's lingering aura, and for Hawk, that was proof enough.
Once again, Cosmic cops need hard evidence. Demon Gods just need a hunch.
Hawk tore his gaze away from the dead sector. Crushing pressure bore down on him from all directions. He looked up into the deep cosmic void.
The weight of the main reality felt suffocating. Even with his Micro-Universe running at full strength, the universe's natural limits kept his power stuck at the Celestial level.
This wasn't Gargaratus's artificial suppression.
This was the real deal. With Gargaratus chased out, the universe's immune system came back online and pushed back.
The universe was unforgiving. It didn't care that Hawk had saved it from a parasitic Celestial. There were no special favors.
The universe wouldn't trap him in time again, it wasn't that spiteful. But stopping living beings from outgrowing their place was part of its nature.
Not to mention Hawk's recent kill count.
Arda wasn't the only case. Hawk had killed several cosmic Gods in the last few months. You don't get called Demon God for being gentle.
Butchering native Gods was a line even Gargaratus hadn't crossed.
So the real cosmic suppression kicked in. Hawk felt the universe's primal instincts closing in on him from every angle.
Suppressing him.
Rejecting him.
Hating him.
Hawk didn't care. If the universe hated him, so be it. What could it really do?
He sensed a familiar energy signature coming fast. He spotted a streak of blinding golden light racing across the void toward him.
Inside the light was a woman.
Her mid-length golden hair whipped wildly. She was tall, athletic, and built for war. She wore a skin-tight suit of red, blue, and gold.
An eight-pointed star emblazoned on her chest.
Shrouded in cascading photon energy, she looked like a cosmic God.
Carol Danvers.
Captain Marvel.
"..." Hawk watched her lock her glowing eyes onto him. The corner of his mouth ticked up. "Hello, Carol."
This wasn't their first meeting.
He and Danvers crossed paths five months ago, right when Hawk carried out the third strike of his cosmic ultimatum. He had arrived at a planet Thanos had destroyed, gathered the survivors, and sent them into his World Tree to boost his dimension's population.
Which was another reason the prime universe loathed him.
Gargaratus just squatted in the universe. Hawk was actively taking what he wanted.
Moving on... Hawk met Captain Marvel right as he cracked that planet in half.
Carol had been furious, glowing with anger and ready for a fight.
But right as she geared up to show him why they called her Captain Marvel, the planet shattered, revealing the grotesque, half-formed Celestial fetus incubating inside the core.
Carol stopped dead in her tracks. She stared at the mangled cosmic parasite floating in the debris.
Since then, Captain Marvel had stayed close by.
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Back to the present.
Carol stared down at the burnt-out galaxy. "I thought this sector was a dead zone. Did the Celestials actually plant a seed out here?"
"No. They only plant seeds inside inhabited worlds that lack local Gods." Hawk shook his head and looked at her. "Pretty sure I told you that last time."
Carol nodded. "I know. So why did you torch this place?"
"To see someone."
"Your wife?"
"Yeah."
"Did you see her?"
"I did." Hawk's gaze stayed calm. "Unfortunately, the Celestials caught on. They reinforced the quarantine grid around that universe."
It didn't matter. The second he saw the Fantastic Four standing next to Gwen, he locked onto the multiversal designation.
Earth-828.
He didn't figure it out from their uniforms. He recognized it from their faces.
The Sue Storm he saw didn't look like Jessica Alba. Instead, she looked like the White Widow.
So, it was Universe-828.
Hawk was certain. The Celestials could build all the firewalls they wanted. It wouldn't save them.
Now he just needed to crack the physics of multiversal travel.
He set the thought aside and looked back at Carol. "We're right at the edge of the universe out here. I can't believe you actually tracked me down."
Carol laughed. "You're a cosmic Demon God, Hawk. Every pantheon in the galaxy is sharing your location on an open channel."
"Is that so?" Hawk arched an eyebrow. "They're that terrified of me?"
"You wiped the Arda pantheon off the map. Yeah... they're terrified." Carol shrugged.
She wasn't angry about the massacre. In fact, Hawk had done something she'd wanted to do for years.
Carol had been to the Arda Galaxy.
It was a miserable place. The local Gods treated mortals like livestock or even disposable batteries. Mass sacrifices happened all the time.
But it was considered divine territory, and cosmic politics kept Carol from acting.
Hawk didn't care about politics. Once he cleared out the Gods, Carol could finally step in and help the survivors.
Over the last few months, they fell into a rhythm.
Hawk broke through the barriers, and Carol took care of what came after.
"Right," Carol remembered something. "The remaining pantheons are spooked. They think they're next on your hit list. They're scrambling toward Olympus..."
Hawk paused. "Zeus's stronghold?"
Carol nodded. "Yeah."
"I don't kill for fun." Hawk shook his head, annoyed. "I only go after pantheons working for the Celestials."
Carol shrugged. "Try explaining that... To them, you're just a guy killing Gods."
It was classic herd mentality. No one wanted to wait and see if Hawk would attack again, so they all ran to hide behind Zeus.
Hawk let out a dry laugh and let it go. He looked at Carol. "I couldn't care less. Anyway, I'm heading back. Are you coming to Earth anytime soon?"
Carol waved him off. "There are still a few planetary uprisings in the Arda sector. I need to go play peacekeeper."
Hawk nodded. "Alright. Catch you next month."
Hawk didn't say another word. He turned on his heel, and his body broke apart into a beam of blinding red light.
In a blink, he vanished into the cosmic void.
Carol watched the streak of light vanish. She took one last look at the dead galaxy beneath her boots, fired her thrusters, and blasted off in the other direction.
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Earth.
521A Palm Street.
BOOOOOOOOMM!!
The red light crashed into the backyard. Hawk stepped out of the fading energy and walked straight to the massive tree.
He sat cross-legged in the dirt, closed his eyes, and focused on unlocking the Eighth Sense of Life.
Meanwhile, New York. S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.
Knock, knock.
"Come in."
An agent pushed open the door to Sharon Carter's office. He looked at Sharon, sitting behind her desk. "Director. Mr. Phoenix has returned."
Sharon looked up and gave a curt nod.
The agent turned and left.
Once the door clicked shut, Sharon reached across her desk and picked up her secure phone. She typed a single encrypted text message and hit send.
"Hawk is back."
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