The Fire Phoenix is burning!
Hydra is perishing.
At this moment, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents fiercely battling Hydra agents on the ground stopped in their tracks, raising their heads to look upwards as one Hydra agent after another flung themselves into the flames of the burning Fire Phoenix, turning to ash.
Meanwhile—
The flames of the Fire Phoenix burned even more brilliantly.
Very soon.
The Fire Phoenix vanished.
Hawk vanished too.
Bang!
After burning all Hydra agents to ashes, Hawk returned directly to the meeting room on the top floor of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, walked straight to Alexander Pierce, seized his neck, and then looked at Natasha.
"I've taken care of the hardest part for you; you don't need my help for the cleanup, do you?"
"Of course."
Natasha responded, nodded, and said.
Hawk smiled slightly, said no more, and then looked at Alexander Pierce again, his eyes turning cold.
Next second!
He vanished with Alexander Pierce from the sight of Natasha and the other three Federation Council members.
At the same time.
Sharon's voice, suppressing excitement, sounded in the earpiece.
"Insight Command Center control completed, control of Insight Mothership Two has been secured."
"Three is controlled too."
Tony Stark's voice also sounded at this time: "Jarvis, transfer control."
Soon.
Sharon watched as another Insight Mothership came online, her eyes lighting up: "Insight Mothership Three online."
There's a total of three Insight Motherships.
Hawk destroyed Mothership One, so only two Insight Motherships remain.
As for Mothership One…
"Mothership One crashed into the Potomac River, Agent Thirty-Five is leading the team to the site."
"Received."
"Bang bang bang!"
Accompanied by the excited voices of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents regaining control over S.H.I.E.L.D. in the communication channel, a Quinjet swept across the sky at this moment, then descended vertically to the top heliport of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Three Feathers building.
Next second.
Maria Hill, clad in S.H.I.E.L.D. combat gear, stepped out of the jet, glanced at Iron Man who flew in from Mothership Three, nodded a greeting, and then walked into the top-floor meeting room with Iron Man.
Iron Man's mask opened, Tony curiously looked around the meeting room and then fixed his gaze on Natasha.
"Where's Hawk?"
"Just left."
Natasha shrugged and then looked at Maria Hill who had just walked in: "Commander."
"Good work." Maria Hill nodded to Natasha, then looked at the three Security Council members in the meeting room and handed over the tablet in her hand: "Emergency order from the Security Council, promoting me to Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."
She already knew when Alexander Pierce was causing chaos in the S.H.I.E.L.D.
But…
Alexander Pierce had ordered her to stay in African Wakanda as operational commander for security reasons.
Fortunately, New York S.H.I.E.L.D. was restored, Victoria Hand contacted her, allowing her to urgently get in touch with the Five Good People through the joint forces in Wakanda, as she was rushing home and waiting for their instructions.
Until she flew back into the Federation territory, the Eastern Good People and Moscow Good People received emergency intelligence reports from their respective councils, and unanimously passed the promotion of Maria Hill to Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., fully responsible for this Hydra chaos incident.
The three council members already knew this news, and after glancing at the tablet Hill handed over, they withdrew their gazes, leaving the room for Maria Hill and then turned to go outside.
S.H.I.E.L.D. has its matters to handle.
They have theirs too. At the very least, to return to the Security Council and inform their headquarters of their experiences.
Soon.
Thor also entered from outside while holding Mjolnir.
"Where's Hawk?"
"Just left."
Natasha looked at Thor and shrugged, then froze slightly, feeling she had said these words not long ago.
Tony was beside her and glanced at Thor: "Jarvis is detecting Hawk's energy signal, but it seems to have disappeared."
Thor frowned: "Back to New York City?"
Natasha shook her head: "No."
Commander Hand and a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are still over on Palm Street.
They are determined to wait, whenever Hawk returns, they leave; it's as simple as that.
Not giving Hydra any chance.
Where did Hawk go?
He actually didn't go anywhere, not even leaving Washington D.C., and after taking Alexander Pierce away from S.H.I.E.L.D. Three Feathers.
Next second.
Hawk returned with Alexander Pierce to his secluded villa hidden in dense woods within Rock Creek Park.
"Bang!"
"Cough cough, cough cough."
After being casually tossed by Hawk, Alexander Pierce, who almost choked earlier, instinctively grasped his neck and coughed continuously.
Hawk scanned the villa's every corner with Sixth Sense, hands in pockets, looked at Alexander Pierce coughing and getting up from the ground.
Alexander Pierce, who was once quite spirited, now showed an old and weary face.
Defeated.
Utterly defeated.
However…
Alexander Pierce maintained the final dignity of Hydra's leader, rising from the ground, took a deep breath, collected himself, and then looked at Hawk.
"Would you believe me if I told you I never intended to target you?"
"Heh heh."
Hawk listened to Pierce's words and first chuckled softly, but then he restrained his smile and looked at Pierce.
"I believe you, but it changes nothing. The fact is, you've made your move. I've always thought you were a smart man, Pierce. I'm not interested in Hydra, nor do I care if you can dominate Earth this time."
He didn't lie.
Among the entire Hydra, he's always thought Alexander Pierce was the smartest one.
After all, Anna is Alexander Pierce's person.
And his relationship with Anna is quite good. From a certain angle, if Alexander Pierce's strategy wasn't befriending him, then he and Anna wouldn't have become friends.
This is also why he didn't suspect Alexander Pierce was lying when he was in Wakanda.
After all, there's no reason for it.
Alexander Pierce isn't foolish, his power is evident. To offend him would mean Hydra's dreams of dominance would never be realized.
Yet...
Pierce really did it.
This is very uncharacteristic of Pierce, unless it's possible Pierce thought that hiding from him was less costly than telling him.
Hawk's mind raced as he thought of his friend Anna and looked at Alexander Pierce.
"Where's Anna."
"Dead."
Alexander smiled bitterly.
Hawk chuckled, looking at the Alexander Pierce who answered just like the S.H.I.E.L.D. Three Feathers: "Anna isn't dead, I'm quite sure. Do you know why I'm so certain?"
Alexander looked at Hawk.
But...
Hawk had no intention of explaining to Alexander, nor even the thought of it. He just gazed thoughtfully at Alexander.
"Anna is obviously not dead, yet you insist she's dead."
"That only indicates one thing."
"Either Anna is imprisoned right now or she's near death."
"But that's not important. What's important is, instead of letting me see Anna, you prefer I believe Anna is dead."
"So..."
"You're hiding something from me, Pierce."
"Why?"
"I pondered this question when I arrived, but now I'm too lazy to think about it."
"There's no need."
"So—"
At this point, Hawk's gaze turned ice-cold, looking at Alexander Pierce before him: "I'm giving you one last chance, out of respect for my friendship with Anna—either you tell me now, or best never tell me."
He really did want to know what drove the clever Pierce to act so foolishly towards him.
He truly did.
But...
Since Pierce won't speak, he's too lazy to ask again.
There's no need.
Asking boils down to one thing.
He is invincible on Earth, and he has no mood or interest in playing some guessing game with these people.
So.
"Your choice, Pierce."
"Heh heh."
Upon hearing this, Pierce's face bore an even deeper bitter smile: "If I don't speak, maybe you'll give me some dignity for Anna's sake, but if I do, I'm afraid I'll have no dignity left."
Zola's Cloned Hawke plan is neither here nor there.
But the girl Strucker conjured up in Sokovia...
He really couldn't speak of it.
But it's not that he doesn't want to say, but it's because of the same reason.
He's Hydra.
He's Hydra, who grows two heads when one is severed.
Though he will die now.
But if Dr. Zola's contingency plans or Strucker's progress are smooth, one day, Hydra's third battle plan will launch again.
And by then, Hydra will truly be able to dominate the world.
So...
After another bitter smile, Alexander Pierce's face swept away his desolation and fatigue, as if rejuvenated, he met Hawk's icy gaze.
The next second.
His right hand raised at a forty-five-degree angle.
"Hail Hydra!"
"Long live Hydra!"
"..."
Hawk looked at Alexander Pierce, who was full of fervor, showing no fear of death and instead possessing a peculiar fanaticism like John Grant did back then, and laughed outright.
"Alright."
"You wish to die."
"I'll grant it."
"You will experience what it means to wish for death over life!"
Hawk's face bloomed with a smile.
The next moment.
Eyes crimson!
Boom!
...