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Westview.
Inside the living room.
After getting a message from his daughter Jean, Hawk leaned back on the sofa. He listened as Peter, the spider-kid who had become a total chatterbox after his multiverse trip, excitedly told his story about the other Earth.
"..." Wanda and Pietro sat nearby, quietly taking in Peter's rambling account of the other Earth.
Honestly, there wasn't much more to add.
"On that Earth, there's no you, and no Gwen," Peter said. "And the same goes for Wanda, Pietro, Tony Stark, or even S.H.I.E.L.D."
"I honestly don't even know how I got there..." When he finished his story, Peter frowned and looked at Hawk. "And I have no clue how we got back, either."
They hadn't even felt anything change between realities.
Even so, they were definitely back, and the change had been so smooth it was almost unreal. One moment, they were trying to find the Quantum Realm, and the next, they were hearing the latest news about Tony Stark.
The whole thing felt dreamlike.
Wanda found the whole thing just as bizarre. "Peter, you're saying you spent three months on another Earth, but in our memories, it's like you never left."
Peter looked at Wanda. "A time reset."
"A time reset?"
"Yeah." Peter nodded. "When Felicia and I suddenly ended up on that Earth, our heads were filled with a bunch of unfamiliar memories. But the moment we saw the necklace Hawk gave little Ben, we remembered him, and that's when we realized something was seriously wrong."
Hearing this, Wanda frowned slightly and turned her gaze to Hawk, who had been sitting quietly on the side.
"Were our memories overwritten?"
"It wasn't your memories that got overwritten," Hawk said. "It was time itself."
"Time got rewritten again."
Hawk shook his head and gave a tired, frustrated laugh.
When Earth completely merged with the prime universe, the ensuing temporal shockwave altered Earth's timeline.
But back then, Earth didn't just merge with the prime universe's true timeline. To be exact, it merged into a timeline that the Celestial Gargaratus had hijacked and claimed as his own.
Now that the Celestial Gargaratus had vacated this universe, the prime universe's true timeline had reasserted itself.
Everything had changed—new rules, new reality.
A new timeline also meant new memories.
Wanda immediately caught the implication in Hawk's words. "Again? Has time been overwritten before?"
"Yeah."
"When?"
"Remember Doctor Strange?"
"The wizard in the cape who insists everyone calls him 'Doctor'?"
Wanda pictured Doctor Strange in her mind.
Hawk nodded. "The previous Sorcerer Supreme was the Ancient One. When Doctor Strange took over the mantle, and Earth completely severed its ties with the World Tree, the timeline underwent a hard reset."
"I didn't feel a thing."
"That's completely normal." Hawk looked at Wanda, who was frowning. "Your timelines move with the universe's flow. You wouldn't notice a change like that."
Wanda seemed to connect some dots and turned back to Hawk. "Wait, didn't Gwen... also end up on a multiverse Earth? Going by that logic, I shouldn't have any memories of her either."
"HOLD UP!" Peter jerked his head toward Hawk. "GWEN GOT TOSSED INTO THE MULTIVERSE, TOO?"
"..." Hawk nodded briefly.
Peter looked completely stunned. "What happened?"
"It's a long story..." Hawk shook his head and gave a small smile, then turned to Wanda. "The reason you all still remember Gwen is simple. She's irreplaceable."
That was the truth.
Gwen could never be swapped out. Hawk's life had always been closely tied to Gwen's. She was there at every important moment in his past.
So, it wasn't that the universe didn't try to erase all memories of Gwen.
It simply couldn't... If the universe tried, it would have to give Hawk a new Gwen to fill those important moments in his life. But could the universe even find someone to replace her? Especially since Hawk's life didn't follow the usual rules here?
Not a chance!!
So, even if the universe sent Gwen to some random Earth, it couldn't erase her from their memories. That's why Hawk and all her friends still remembered her so clearly.
"Unlike Peter over here," Hawk added.
"He got swapped out."
"Replaced by another little spider named Peter Parker."
As Hawk spoke, the Reality Stone glowed red in his eyes. Suddenly, a lifelike image of the Tom Holland version of Spider-Man appeared in the middle of the living room.
Wanda recognized him as soon as she saw the image. "I think I remember him."
"That's... me?" Peter stared at the hologram, staring in puzzlement. "How old am I in that one?"
Hawk chuckled. "Fourteen."
"I didn't get my powers until I was sixteen!"
"This one got a head start."
"Alright then." Peter opened his mouth, his eyes focused on the younger spider. "What about Aunt May...?"
Hawk arched an eyebrow, and the hologram changed to show the Marisa Tomei version of Aunt May.
Instantly—
Everyone in the room gasped at the same time.
Wanda and Pietro both turned to look at Peter, who seemed completely stunned.
Seeing a younger version of himself hadn't shocked Peter, but seeing this universe's Aunt May left him speechless.
"That's... Aunt May."
"Yep." Hawk smirked and looked at his friend. "Jealous?"
Peter snapped out of it, saw Hawk's smug look, and shook his head. "I'm not jealous. It's just... wild."
Hawk gave a small smile. "That's the multiverse for you. Different versions of you mean different versions of Aunt May."
"But the multiverse Earth I was on didn't have any of you," Peter pointed out.
"Also completely normal," Hawk spoke casually. "It's an infinite universe. Things are bound to be a little different everywhere."
Peter nodded slowly, processing the information before locking eyes with Hawk. "So, have you figured out a way to get Gwen back?"
Hawk shook his head. "Still working on it."
Traveling through the multiverse wasn't impossible. Hawk just hadn't figured out the right way yet. He'd made mistakes before and wasn't going to rush in without a plan.
The temporal trap seemed gone for now, but what if it was just a trick? What if it was all a cosmic setup?
Jumping into danger wasn't out of the question, but it would be a last resort, not his first choice.
Besides, Hawk still had time.
He still believed that even if the Celestials had sent Gwen to some far-off place in the multiverse, they wouldn't dare harm her.
As long as he was alive, Gwen would be safe.
So, until he found a sure way to cross timelines and dimensions, his best option was to master the Eighth Sense of Life.
Hawk pushed his thoughts aside and changed the subject. He looked at Peter and smiled. "I'm just glad you made it back in one piece, man."
Peter caught the sincerity in his friend's smile. "Thanks."
Peter kept his own ideas about using the Quantum Realm to cross the multiverse to himself. He wasn't sure his quantum theories were right yet. If he shared them and they failed, he'd only give everyone false hope.
It was better to check the numbers and test his ideas first. If he figured it out, he'd tell Hawk then.
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A little while later.
The oven beeped from the kitchen. Wanda, who had just left the sofa, took out a fresh batch of pastries. "Hey Peter, you haven't had breakfast yet, right? Come grab a bite."
Peter snapped back to reality and looked over at her.
Before Peter could answer, Hawk pulled him off the couch. "You're already here. Might as well eat before you go."
Peter gave in and let Hawk lead him to the dining room.
Hawk took a piece of toast with some kind of spread from Wanda. He took a bite, then stopped and stared at the jam on his bread.
"This spread..."
"Gwen taught me how to make it," Wanda said, giving Peter a slice. She looked at Hawk. "Does it taste wrong? I followed her recipe exactly."
Hawk thought for a moment and chuckled. "It just tastes familiar, that's all." He didn't say more and went back to eating.
'This is my secret weapon. The very first special recipe of the Phoenix family. Only a true Phoenix would know how to make it.' Hawk could clearly remember Gwen's dramatic, secretive speech in his mind.
As he ate the spread—which wasn't a perfect match, but was close enough—he watched Wanda moving around the kitchen and felt a sudden thought in his chest.
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Lightyears away, stranded on some alternate multiverse Earth, Gwen suddenly felt a strange pull. She looked up and saw a well-dressed woman with a polite smile walking toward her.
"Doctor Phoenix?"
"...That's me."
"Doctor Richards is ready to see you now. Right this way, please."
"Thank you." Gwen blinked and brought herself back to the moment. She stood up from the waiting room chair, thanked the woman, and picked up the stack of research files she had been working on for days. Holding them close, she followed her guide to the elevators.
The building she was in stood on the same spot as Stark Industries did in her own universe.
But here, there was no Stark Industries. No Oscorp either. Almost every big company she knew was missing from this world.
The same was true for the people.
There was no Hawk, no Tony Stark, and no Peter Parker. No Iron Man flying overhead, no Spider-Man swinging between buildings, and no S.H.I.E.L.D. hiding in the background.
But this Earth wasn't defenseless. It had its own kind of heroes. The locals called them a super family.
As Gwen walked down the spotless hallway with the assistant, she noticed huge posters on the walls and remembered everything she'd learned about this world's Fantastic Four.
Sitting around and waiting to be rescued just wasn't in her DNA.
Years ago, she had found Hawk after searching through miles of wild terrain. If she could do that, she could find him anywhere—even across the multiverse.
She needed some technical help to get started.
Reed Richards.
Widely hailed as the Smartest Man on this Planet.
'I just hope he actually believes a word of what I'm about to tell him.'
Gwen stepped into the elevator behind her guide. As it shot up toward the penthouse, she braced herself for the most important pitch of her life.
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