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"I'm back!"
"..."
Hawk's voice echoed through the house, and a moment later, he appeared. The air shimmered, rippling like water after a stone hits it, and Hawk stepped out from the strange distortion, almost like walking through a door.
Wanda turned toward the sound.
Hawk stood there in a dark gray suit, his expression normal, meeting her gaze.
"Good morning."
"...Good morning." Wanda blinked, recovered, and offered a greeting in return.
Jean, sitting in Anya's lap, looked up with bright eyes. She squealed with delight, slipped out of Anya's arms, and ran straight to Hawk.
"DADDY!"
She buried her face in his chest, then looked up. "Where did you go? I felt like you were somewhere high up in a tree, but I couldn't reach you."
Hawk smiled. "I was visiting a beautiful place. Once your school year is over, if you bring home all A-pluses, I'll take you there."
Jean's face lit up. "Really, Daddy?"
"Of course," Hawk promised, smiling. He held out his pinky finger, hooking it with hers to seal the deal. Satisfied, Jean wriggled out of his arms and ran back upstairs.
She was probably heading straight for her books.
She wanted to study hard and aim high.
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Half an hour later, in the backyard.
Hawk stood with his hands in his pockets, listening as Wanda narrated the events which had unfolded on Earth. When she mentioned that Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian had abducted not only Doctor Strange but also Bruce Banner, his eyebrow shot up.
"They took Banner too?"
"Yes..." Wanda nodded, confused. "I get why they took that Doctor Strange guy. He has an Infinity Stone. It makes sense to kidnap him. But Bruce Banner? Does he have a Stone too?"
Hawk shook his head.
Wanda looked more confused.
"Those two aliens seemed focused on just the two of them."
Hawk couldn't figure out why Thanos wanted Bruce Banner taken.
Maybe Thanos realized he couldn't get the Reality and Mind Stones from Hawk, so he decided to target the universe where this version of Bruce Banner came from. Was he planning to use Banner as a way in?
Would Thanos travel to Banner's home universe, collect the Infinity Stones there, and bring them back to the primary universe to wipe out half of all life?
Wait... Could that work?
YES!
In Endgame, the Avengers had traveled to alternate timelines to borrow Infinity Stones and resurrect the victims of Thanos's snap.
If Stones from alternate timelines worked, Stones from a parallel multiverse should work too.
Of course, there was a catch.
That universe had to have Infinity Stones.
The multiverse has endless possibilities and realities. Not every universe has Infinity Stones, just like some people in the primary universe might not exist in others.
But this variant of Bruce Banner knew about the Infinity Stones, which meant Thanos didn't have to guess. He already knew Stones existed in Banner's home universe.
That left one hurdle.
How was Thanos planning to traverse the multiverse and lock onto the specific universe Banner came from?
The Time Stone.
And the Space Stone.
Together, they made the Spacetime Stone. Using both could open a stable gateway to another universe in the multiverse—
Hawk had thought about this while on Nidavellir, waiting for Eitri to make his Gold Cloth. He ran through different scenarios, trying to figure out how to get Gwen back if Time tried to interfere.
Combining the Time and Space Stones had been one of his solutions.
But... Thanos could use that trick to traverse the multiverse. Hawk couldn't.
If he tried it, he would walk into Time's trap. And it would create a dangerous misconception within the primary universe.
It would signal that Hawk Phoenix could be manipulated by threatening Gwen.
So, it was a dead end.
But for Thanos, that didn't matter. He could open a spacetime gateway and travel across the multiverse without any trouble.
But there was still one question: How would Thanos get the exact location of Banner's home universe from him, with so many universes out there?
"Whatever." Hawk shook his head, dropping the subject. Whatever Thanos was planning had no bearing on him. "Let him do what he wants."
"Let him??" Wanda's pupils contracted, and she stared at Hawk. "But Bruce Banner said Thanos plans to use the Infinity Stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe."
Hawk nodded, his tone flat. "Yes. And?"
"Earth..."
"Earth is exempt!!"
"What? Why?"
"Because of me." Hawk looked at Wanda. "Thanos's lackeys didn't come after you, did they? That was his way of sending me a message. He won't touch Earth, and he wouldn't dare."
It wasn't just Earth. Any planet under the direct protection of a God was exempt from Thanos's culling.
Here's a clear example: Gorr the God Butcher's home world wasn't affected by Thanos's snap.
It wasn't a coincidence.
Thanos's snap was supposed to affect the universe. There was only one reason why certain planets were spared.
Thanos's snap excluded life-bearing planets shielded by divine entities.
Just think about it, if Thanos's snap had wiped out half the populations of planets protected by the Gods, he wouldn't have survived long enough to retire and farm space-cabbages.
Not all Gods were as negligent as the ones on Gorr's planet.
Most took their responsibilities seriously... If Thanos had crossed that line, the moment he snapped his fingers, every God in the cosmos would have teleported in front of him and beaten him to death.
But Thanos didn't die. He got to retire in peace.
So, Thanos's snap didn't target the realms of the Gods. It was meant for unprotected planets, the ones created by the Celestials.
This also explained why Earth lost half its population in the original movie timeline.
Not only because Earth housed an unbirthed Celestial seed.
But because Earth had lost its divine protectors.
Whether it was the Ancient One, a mortal with the power of a god. Or Odin, the All-Father who had conquered the Nine Realms.
Both had bowed out of the cosmic play. With no Gods left to protect it, and a Celestial incubating in its core, Earth was a guaranteed target on Thanos's culling list.
But this time, things were different.
Hawk was alive. And the moment Thanos had left Nidavellir, Hawk had made his move, stealing the World Tree right out from under the primary universe.
Thanos wasn't an idiot. Under these circumstances, unless he suffered a catastrophic drop in IQ, he wasn't going to touch Earth.
Just as Thanos had avoided the Milky Way while Odin and the Ancient One were breathing, this time he would rather take the long way around, scouring the multiverse for the Reality and Mind Stones he knew he couldn't get from Hawk, rather than risk confronting the Phoenix face-to-face.
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"Don't worry about him."
"...Okay."
Hawk sounded so sure that Wanda let the topic go. She turned to the one thing that had been bothering her.
"Gwen..."
"I know."
"Wait. You know?" Wanda stared at him. "You knew Gwen was going to disappear?"
Hawk nodded.
Wanda demanded, "What happened?"
"Time." Hawk saw her shocked face, thought about what to say, and chose to keep it short. He explained that he had stolen the World Tree just as the primary universe was about to take it, and that the backlash from Time itself had sent the person closest to him into a parallel universe.
"..." Wanda listened, her jaw dropping.
When Hawk finished.
She asked, "So what are you going to do? Are you going to travel the multiverse to find her?"
Hawk's voice was calm. "I thought about it..."
"But..."
"If I do that, I play into Time's trap. And Gwen's sacrifice, this temporary separation, will have been for nothing."
"Then..."
"Don't worry." Hawk let out a short laugh and looked at Wanda, who was clearly anxious. "I already have a plan to get her back."
It was just like what he did on Earth. When he faced a problem, he went straight to the Pentagon to get things solved.
He was applying the same logic here.
While this mess was a reflexive retaliation from Time, he didn't care. He had his sights on the Celestials. As long as Gwen remained lost, he was going to hunt down every Celestial he could find.
In short: when in doubt, kill a Celestial.
After all, the Celestials could traverse the multiverse freely.
Hawk didn't expect the Celestials to comply because he had crippled Gargaratus. He knew a war was coming.
He welcomed it!
Hawk had let Gargaratus flee for one reason: to bring that war to his doorstep sooner.
When the Celestials, enraged by the insult, mobilized dozens or hundreds of their kind to hunt him down... he wasn't going to hold back.
Barbarians only respect power. They care nothing for morality!
The Celestials operated on the same principle.
When the time came, no matter how many arrived, he would defeat them all. He would keep fighting until they were too scared to resist. Then... broken—the Celestials would go into the multiverse and bring Gwen back to him.
Because... Time is a concept. It has no consciousness. It feels no fear.
But the Celestials are living beings. And all living beings know fear.
It is a universal constant.
Wanda looked at the confidence on Hawk's face and the cold intent flashing in the depths of his eyes. She nodded, saying nothing more.
At that moment—
Anya, standing in the living room, tapped on the glass of the patio door.
Wanda turned and saw Sharon Carter walking up the driveway. She had rushed over the moment she heard Hawk was back.
...
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