Just like usual school days, Hawk, who never had lunch at the New York University cafeteria, went to the neighboring Imperial University to find his fiancée and heard the latest, most explosive news from her.
"Mary's new boyfriend is Flash?"
"Yeah."
"Ugh!"
Hawk gasped, looking at Gwen, who also seemed quite shocked by the news, and asked curiously, "What was Mary thinking, getting back at Peter?"
Flash.
That's Flash Thompson, their classmate in the same grade.
Though Thomson's grades weren't great, he did have his own strengths.
As the one who helped Midtown High School win second place in the National High School League, Thomson smoothly received an invitation from Imperial University, fighting for the honor of the school as vice-captain of the Imperial University football team.
Just that...
Aside from this identity, Thomson had another one.
School bully.
Even though ever since Peter's Uncle Ben passed away, Thomson stopped bullying Peter, mainly because he couldn't bully the now Spider Spirit Peter anymore, fundamentally, Thomson had bullied Peter.
And now, Mary and Thomson have gotten together.
This...
"Does Peter know?"
"How would I know."
Gwen replied, "I only found out this morning too, I'm as shocked as you are, okay?"
Hawk, hearing this, clicked his tongue twice.
Gwen seemed a bit worried, "When Peter comes back, he won't do anything drastic, right?"
Hawk replied, "Definitely not."
Gwen looked at Hawk curiously.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Hawk nodded, smiling as he said, "At most, he'll just turn dark. For others, it's a big deal, for Peter, it's a small matter."
After all, when Peter turns dark, he'd at most ask the boss of Horn Daily for a raise, then buy himself a discounted suit.
Apart from that, there doesn't seem to be anything else.
No, wait.
I don't even know if Venom has arrived on Earth yet.
Hawk thought to himself.
Mary has a new boyfriend, and the new boyfriend is the bully Flash, who used to bully her ex-boyfriend, this shocked both Hawk and Gwen.
But it was just shock, nothing more.
The two didn't delve deeper into this matter.
After finishing lunch with Gwen, Hawk left first.
He had promised someone to take her for afternoon tea in the afternoon.
Sharon was back.
But Sharon didn't return from vacation in Texas, she returned from African Wakanda.
In an afternoon tea shop not far from New York University.
Hawk accepted the tablet Sharon handed over for browsing while listening to her story, curiously asking, "Weren't you vacationing in Texas, why did you go to Wakanda?"
That's why he didn't urge Sharon.
Anyway, Sharon had promised to call him when she got back to New York. Disturbing someone's vacation is a very impolite thing to do.
Sharon took a sip of the free coffee and couldn't help but complain, "The day after you called me, my vacation was abruptly ended, and I was sent to Wakanda, not just me, almost all Level 5 and above S.H.I.E.L.D. agents went there."
Hawk, hearing this, glanced at Sharon.
"Level 5 and above?"
"Yeah."
"Something happened?"
"T'Chaka died, and the new king, T'Challa, launched a rebellion, killing peacekeepers stationed in the royal palace, and also attacked the workers mining Vibranium, causing significant losses to the combined forces."
"...Wait."
Wasn't the Wakanda issue already resolved?
Why is there a sequel now?
Listening to Sharon's story, Hawk felt a bit confused, "Wasn't T'Chaka dead long ago?"
Sharon shook her head, "No, he just died recently, he was in a coma before that. When T'Chaka was still in a coma, the Golden Tribe had already accepted the agreement, never expected the new king T'Challa to tear it up as soon as he came to power."
Hawk's expression cleared up.
"And then?"
"The rebellion happened the night of the thirty-first, the Security Council didn't expect the Golden Tribe to have hidden some Vibranium technology and weapons. By the time the Security Council received the news, the combined forces had been driven out of the capital, and some soldiers were captured by Wakanda."
"The Security Council was furious."
"So..."
"A call was made to my vacation hotel, and I dashed off to Wakanda."
"..."
Hawk remained silent.
He knew every word Sharon said, but why, when put together, did it give him such a baffling feeling.
What do you mean by the combined forces were driven out of the capital?
What do you mean by some soldiers were still captured by Wakanda?
Oh dear.
If he remembers correctly, back when he talked to Hill, the United Forces seemed to have flown into Wakanda's face.
How much time has passed since then?
No.
It seems that half a year has already gone by.
Hawk recalled that the last time he talked to Hill was during the first half of last year. He composed himself and continued listening to Sharon's account.
Initially, the reason the United Forces could present an overwhelming stance, flying into Wakanda's face, was two-fold.
Wakanda had just been troubled by Hawk and Hell Hulk, with Hell Hulk turning Wakanda's river blood-red in a violent burst.
Hawk also kicked the Old King T'Chaka, severely injuring him, and even helped S.H.I.E.L.D. break the Vibranium Shield.
Additionally, the Old King T'Chaka was willing to believe the Security Council, so he ordered the Golden Tribe to negotiate with him and the Council.
But this was already more than half a year ago.
Because at that time, the Old King was still around, his attitude was good, and half a year had passed. In the eyes of the Security Council, Wakanda didn't need so many people anymore.
So last Christmas, even codenamed agents like Natasha got the chance to take a vacation, leaving Africa to enjoy some time off.
Even the United Forces stationed there only maintained a force of less than five hundred people, mainly to protect the workers during mining.
Who would have thought that with the death of the Old King, things changed?
The new King T'Challa, after consuming the Heart-shaped Grass, gained the power of the Leopard God. Ascending as the new king and guardian of Wakanda, T'Challa ripped up the signed treaty and led a force made up of thousands of Wakanda women from god knows where to attack the United Forces at their capital base.
Even a battleship anchored in the waters near Wakanda was sunk.
Afterwards...
There was no afterwards.
The Vibranium Shield over the capital was reactivated. Witnessing this scene, other tribes emerged from the deep mountains and forests, under the cover of night, reclaiming their lost lands.
"And what happened next?"
"Reinforcements, luckily there was an air force base stationed nearby, and just as we got there, the Golden Tribe sent emissaries saying they wanted to negotiate."
"And then?"
"Negotiations."
"Outcome..."
"Unknown, still negotiating."
Sharon sighed, feeling exasperated: "I heard Alexander Pierce, the councilor, advocates for a heavy-handed approach, but the Paris and London councilors disagree, as it might impact them negatively if the matter escalates."
Hawk was somewhat curious.
"The other two..."
"Abstained."
"...as expected."
Listening to this answer, Hawk thought about it, finding it fits the consistent persona of the other two councilors. Initially, these two councilors also abstained.
Sharon seemed to remember something, took out her phone, pulled up a video, and handed it to Hawk.
"Check this out."
"What's this?"
In the video, soldiers wearing shorts and even some completely naked lined up and jumped off the deck one after another.
"Warship deck surveillance, the night of the mutiny, these soldiers didn't know what they were affected by, jumping into the water one by one, failing to provide timely support."
"Really?"
He looked at the surveillance footage again and then at Sharon: "Know the reason?"
Sharon shrugged: "Still investigating, and whether to fight or negotiate is unclear, which is why I could return from Africa. God, you don't know how hot that place is; I feel like I've gotten tan."
Hawk chuckled, eyeing Sharon and nodded.
"You indeed got tanned."
"Oh God, I don't want to live anymore."
After getting Hawk's confirmation, Sharon lay on the table, looking defeated.
After a while.
Sharon raised her head, moving away from the topic of Wakanda: "By the way, why are you looking into clone technology?"
Hawk returned his focus to the S.H.I.E.L.D. documents on cloning experiments on his tablet, without looking up: "To resurrect my sister."
Sharon gave an understanding nod, holding her coffee cup, keeping silent as she quietly sipped her coffee.
Hawk quickly finished reading through the documents on his tablet and handed it back to Sharon.
"Why are they all about cloning organs? Isn't there research into cloning people?"
"Hawk, after all, we're under the Security Council's management as S.H.I.E.L.D., funded by them. The organ cloning experiments are already something the Council overlooks, but cloning people would require higher authorization."
"Alright."
"However..."
Sharon paused and said to Hawk: "A few years ago, we indeed caught a guy conducting a cloning experiment, named Merrick, who was locked up in Black Prison. I can help you contact him and see if I can arrange for you to meet him."
Hawk's eyes brightened, giving Sharon a look.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, just treat me to an afternoon tea next time."
"No problem."
Hawk smiled and, seeing Sharon raising her coffee cup, he raised his own, clinking glasses to agree.
At that moment.
His expression suddenly changed.
In the next moment.
Under Sharon's gaze, Hawk sitting opposite her instantly vanished!
...