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Thor stared at the World Tree, not sure what to feel now that Hawk owned it.
Yes, he was the one who had instructed Loki to unleash Surtur. He knew full well that Surtur would bring about the destruction of Asgard and Yggdrasil. And yes, he had mentally prepared himself for the World Tree's collapse.
But still, it was that old, uncomfortable feeling. You want your brother to win, but it still stings when he ends up with the whole universe in his hands.
As it turns out, Gods aren't so different from mortals after all.
That feeling grew stronger when Thor returned and saw Yggdrasil reborn as the Phoenix World Tree. He still had his power as the God of Thunder, but now someone else was in charge.
But the title had changed.
Before, he was the God of Thunder of Yggdrasil.
Now, he was the God of Thunder of the Phoenix World Tree.
Overnight, his old comrade had become his boss. Anyone would feel weird about that. However, the thought of kicking Hawk while he was down never once crossed Thor's mind.
It was just a blow to his pride.
And yet—
As soon as Thor saw his father, Odin, alive again in Vanaheim, all his hurt pride vanished.
Historically speaking, once a soul entered Valhalla, they were permanently severed from the realm of the living.
But those were the old rules.
Hawk had changed everything. Valhalla was renamed under his rule. More importantly, Odin and Frigga were given new roles as the God of Light and the Goddess of Darkness of the Phoenix World Tree, letting them leave the afterlife and enter the Light Dimension.
It was from his father that Thor learned the heavy truth behind Hawk's ascension.
While taking control of the World Tree had ultimately been Hawk's choice, it was a conversation with Odin that had planted the seed and pushed him toward that decision.
And Hawk had paid a devastating price for it.
Gwen.
That truth hit Thor hard.
The Odinson family was whole again, reunited and thriving. Meanwhile, Hawk's family was gone.
So, this was on the Odinsons!
Not Hawk's.
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When Thor came back from Vanaheim, the pride was gone. All that was left was guilt. He glanced at Hawk, who stood there quietly, immersed in thoughts of Gwen.
"I am so sorry..."
"Don't be." Hawk heard the apology and gave a small smile. "Gwen and I made this choice together. I never regret my choices, and neither does she."
"Do you know which multiverse she fell into?"
"I'll find it." Then, as if remembering something, he raised an eyebrow and changed the subject. "Now that the Phoenix World Tree has taken root, your people can return. Vanaheim is your new home."
They were what kept the World Tree alive.
The more life that grew on its branches, the stronger the World Tree became. As the tree thrived, so did the Fire Phoenix inside it.
Thor nodded in gratitude. "I plan to return to Earth tomorrow."
"Why tomorrow?"
"Because it is currently daytime," Thor replied, looking resentful. "I want to see my mother."
Odin was now the God of Light, ruling over the daytime of the Phoenix World Tree.
Frigga was the Goddess of Darkness, ruling over the night.
Day and night would never cross paths.
Therefore, Odin and Frigga could never meet.
There should have been a time in between—twilight or dusk—when day and night briefly met.
But Hawk had considered it and decided to get rid of Twilight completely.
Once again, Odin wouldn't get to see Frigga until Hawk got his Gwen back.
Hawk had stated that he never regretted his choices.
But he never said he was above holding a petty, vindictive grudge.
So, during his visit, Thor had only been able to see his father. His mother was locked away in the night.
Hawk met Thor's resentful glare without any guilt. "Your father schemed against me first."
"I know." Thor let out a bitter, defeated laugh, then looked at Hawk with real gratitude. "Thank you."
Look at that...
Hawk had taken over the World Tree, separated Thor's parents forever, and yet Thor still had to thank him.
Hawk smiled. He spent a few more minutes talking with Thor before leaving the Phoenix Palace. When he reappeared, he was leaning against the massive, fiery form of the Phoenix on the World Tree. Hawk sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and let his mind sink deep into his inner Cosmo.
High above the River of Time, Hawk stood with his back to the Past, feet planted firmly in the Present, gazing towards the Future.
In front of him—
His timeline was still entangled with the temporal flow of the primary reality.
But now the tempting voice that always urged him to look to his own future was gone. He finally felt free of the threat of time traps. Now he could focus all his energy on finding a way through the multiverse to bring Gwen back.
After all, Gorr the God Butcher had departed from this universe, and reality had reset itself to its most primordial, untampered state.
Hawk thought about it for a moment before looking away. He sat cross-legged on the shining surface of his River of Time, closed his eyes, and returned to meditating on the Eighth Sense, the essence of Life.
It didn't matter whether the time traps were truly gone or merely another trick. The only thing that mattered was making himself stronger.
In short, once he understood the Eighth Sense and awakened his own divine spark, he wouldn't have to worry about time's tricks any more.
But understanding the Eighth Sense wasn't easy. If it were, even Shaka of Virgo wouldn't have needed to meditate with his eyes closed to develop his Cosmo.
As Hawk meditated, time moved forward within the Phoenix World Tree. Suddenly, darkness engulfed the light, and Night descended upon Earth.
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On the outskirts of New York.
Osborn Manor.
Peter and Felicia lay in bed, holding each other and talking quietly as the television played in the background.
"There has to be a Quantum Realm serving as the connective tissue between multiverses. If we can pinpoint this Quantum Realm and find a way to enter it physically..." Peter paused, his eyes locked on Felicia. "We can use it to navigate back to our own Earth."
Ever since they were suddenly thrown into this strange parallel Earth—a world without Hawk, Tony Stark, or S.H.I.E.L.D.—they hadn't really understood what caused it. But they never stopped looking for a way home.
Peter's true genius lay in physics. Quantum physics was still physics. So, desperate to find a way back, Peter had focused all his energy on understanding the Quantum Realm. If the multiverse really existed...
No, wait.
They already knew the multiverse was real. So the Quantum Realm, which connects these different realities, was no longer just a theory.
The Quantum Realm had to exist. As long as they could locate the access point and devise a way to survive the journey, they could return to the familiar Earth, where Hawk and Tony Stark still existed.
Felicia, resting her head against Peter's chest, nodded in agreement. "Washington is declassifying some of its restricted quantum research for Oscorp tomorrow."
Even in a parallel universe, Oscorp was still Oscorp, the shadowy face of corporate capitalism.
Felicia looked up, meeting Peter's gaze. "Don't worry. We're going to find our way back."
"Yeah." Peter nodded heavily, pulling her closer.
As they shared a moment of quiet reassurance, the television shifted to a breaking news report covering the construction of Stark Industries' third Arc Reactor facility in New Jersey.
Felicia glanced idly at the screen. "Which number energy grid is this for Stark?"
"The..." Peter started to answer without thinking, then stopped. At the same moment, he and Felicia jumped out of bed as if they'd been shocked. "Stark Industries? Did I hear that right?"
"Holy— let me check." Felicia gasped and grabbed her phone, her fingers moving quickly across the screen. When she saw the search results for Stark Industries, she called Pepper Potts right away.
A few seconds later, the call connected.
Pepper's voice came through the speaker. "Felicia? What's wrong?"
"Pepper! It's really you!" Hearing Pepper's familiar voice, Felicia let out a cry. "Thank God! We're back!"
On the other end of the line, Pepper sounded baffled, but a hint of realisation seemed to dawn on her. "By the way, where have you two been for the last three months? Tony and I couldn't reach you for the wedding at all."
"You have no idea what we've been through." Felicia let out an exhausted sigh as the memories of the past three months of multiversal madness crashed over her. "We were on another Earth. A parallel universe."
Pepper was stunned into silence.
In Pepper's memories, Felicia and Peter had never left the universe—they had gone off-grid for a three-month hiatus. Meanwhile, beside Felicia, Peter was already moving at superhuman speed, throwing on his clothes in a frantic blur.
Felicia, still holding the phone, watched him scramble. "Where are you going?"
"I have to find Hawk." Peter was already at the bedroom window. He didn't even look back as he threw the window open, shot a web into the night sky, and launched himself into the darkness, vanishing from Felicia's sight in a fraction of a second.
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