Marvel: The Awakened One

T’Challa was dead.

Technically speaking, he’d killed himself.

His right hand’s Vibranium claws had pierced through his helmet without resistance, penetrating his skull like a knife through butter.

In that instant—

All the rage. All the unwillingness to accept it. Everything died along with T’Challa.

THUD.

The moment Hawk released his grip, T’Challa’s body fell to the ground like a dead panther.

Hawk stared down at the corpse with calm eyes.

Was T’Challa wrong to seek revenge against him?

No.

And Hawk wasn’t wrong to retaliate either. But T’Challa had made one critical mistake.

Wanting revenge wasn’t the problem. But before you had the absolute power to succeed, you had to swallow your hatred—no matter how great.

That’s what Hawk had done.

Years ago, when Abomination and Hulk had fought and killed his sister Anya as collateral damage, Hawk had wanted nothing more than to tear them both apart with his bare hands.

But the fantasy was nice. Reality was cruel.

If he’d charged in back then, there would have been only one outcome: Abomination or Hulk would have ripped him to shreds.

One simple truth.

Weakness is the original sin.

Those were the rules.

At least in the Marvel Universe—whether on Earth or out in the cosmos—the law that reigned supreme was the survival of the fittest.

If you weren’t at the table, you were on the menu.

Hawk felt no guilt over killing T’Challa. He certainly wasn’t going to spew some garbage about regret. And he definitely didn’t feel sorry for stealing Wakanda’s Vibranium back then.

He just wanted to be at the table. Not on the menu.

No grudges. No right or wrong.

Hawk glanced at T’Challa’s body one last time with calm indifference, then looked away. His gaze settled on the one intact palace still standing before him.

The next second, he raised his right hand and threw a single punch. The sound of collapse immediately followed. Accompanied by a cloud of rising dust, the palace—the last piece of evidence that Wakanda had ever existed—crumbled to rubble.

Hawk had said that after today, Wakanda would be no more.

He kept his word.

Looking around now, the only things left that could prove Wakanda had existed were T’Challa’s corpse in front of him and the Vibranium artifacts buried beneath the thick layer of white ash.

Vibranium teeth.

Vibranium rings.

Various Vibranium components from Wakandan weapons.

And not far away, the once-sacred Vibranium mountain of Wakanda.

Though whether that mountain would keep its name going forward depended on whether the Security Council wanted to rename it.

They probably would. And this place would likely become a forbidden zone.

A military restricted area jointly managed by the Big Five.

But from a long-term perspective, with the Big Five maintaining a permanent presence here, the African continent—at least within artillery range radiating out from Wakanda’s former location—would probably experience an unprecedented era of peace.

So from that angle, he’d done a good deed.

Hawk thought this to himself as he watched the collapsing palace. He turned to leave.

But—

Just as he was about to go, his sharp Sixth Sense suddenly detected something. The moment he began looking away, his gaze snapped back to the palace, now reduced to rubble.

The next second, Hawk stepped forward, appearing directly in front of the collapsed palace. At the same time, his telekinesis wrapped around several oddly shaped spheres buried in the debris, levitating them into view.

The spheres were entirely blue—the exact color of the ocean.

Wait.

Not just the color of the ocean. They were the ocean.

Hawk raised an eyebrow, reached out with his right hand, and grabbed one of the blue spheres. After examining it briefly, he tossed it away and used his Eye Beam to detonate it mid-flight.

Instantly—

SPLASH!

The moment the blue sphere exploded, extremely high-pressure water burst forth like a bomb. The water jet acted like an ultra-high-pressure water cutter, instantly slicing through everything in its blast radius.

”Huh.”

”Wakanda had tech like this?”

”I don’t remember seeing this in the movies...”

Hawk’s eyes lit up. He recalled the Black Panther movies he’d watched before his transmigration and confirmed this particular water bomb had never made an appearance. He looked at the remaining three water bombs with genuine curiosity.

...

At the same time, In the safe zone, watching the area that had gone completely silent after the white light faded, Maria Hill handpicked a SHIELD strike team and sent them back into the Wakanda region they’d just evacuated in such a hurry.

What they saw—

A vast expanse of white ash, covering everything. Truly clean.

The forests were gone.

The rivers had dried up.

Everything was buried beneath a thick layer of white ash. But underneath that ash, they could faintly see the unmistakable gleam of Vibranium that no amount of ash could hide.

One agent bent down and picked a Vibranium tooth out of the ash. He blinked in confusion, then handed it to Maria Hill standing nearby.

Maria Hill took it and examined the Vibranium tooth.

At first, her expression was puzzled. But soon, she seemed to realize something. Her head snapped up, staring at the white ash covering the ground. A flash of horror passed through her eyes. Then her gaze landed on Hawk’s back in the distance, standing before a pile of rubble.

Hill and her team left neat footprints in the thick ash as they made their way to what had once been the Wakandan palace district.

One agent discovered T’Challa’s body lying in the ash, as if surrounded by snow.

”Commander!”

”...Give him a proper burial.”

”Yes, ma’am.”

The agent who’d found T’Challa’s body nodded. He exchanged a glance with another agent he was close with. Then the two of them quickly moved to the body, lifting it from the front and back, preparing to carry it out first.

They didn’t have much choice.

They now understood exactly what the white ash beneath their feet really was. And the more they understood, the more they felt an unstoppable chill creeping into their bodies as they walked through it.

This was bad enough in daylight. If it had been nighttime, they probably wouldn’t have dared to enter at all.

At least not until someone cleared away all this ash.

Soon enough—

The two agents carried T’Challa’s body outside. Hill, meanwhile, walked straight toward Hawk alone—just like the last time she’d come to Africa.

Hawk glanced at Hill standing beside him and chuckled. ”You don’t need to thank me. If you really want to show your appreciation, just tell me where I can clone a person.”

Hill smiled at that. ”SHIELD’s underground cloning research is second only to our organ work. But human cloning? We genuinely don’t have that.”

Hawk glanced at Hill.

”I believe you.”

”Thanks.”

Hill smiled faintly, then continued, ”Sharon already reported to me. I’ve authorized her to visit Black Site and meet with Dr. Merrick—the scientist who nearly caused a major disaster a few years ago with his human cloning research.”

Hawk’s curiosity was piqued.

”This Dr. Merrick can clone people?”

”More than that.”

Hill let out a dry laugh. ”He was conducting his research right under our noses. And he already had viable products. If we hadn’t caught him in time, there’d be clones walking around society right now.”

Hawk’s eyes lit up. He looked at Hill.

”So—”

”Yes.”

Hill cut him off before he could finish, nodding. ”But Dr. Merrick is extremely dangerous. We can’t hand him over to you. If you want to meet him, it has to be with Sharon present. And any experiments must be conducted under our supervision.”

Hawk didn’t hesitate. ”No problem.”

He wasn’t planning to use this cloning tech for anything shady anyway. He just wanted to create a body for his sister so he could fully resurrect her.

So—

SHIELD could supervise all they wanted. He had nothing to hide.

Hill watched Hawk nod in agreement, and relief washed over her internally.

Dr. Merrick was a genuine lunatic. According to SHIELD’s original plan, Merrick was supposed to spend the rest of his life locked away, never seeing daylight again.

After all, the man had abused his position as a SHIELD Academy instructor to collect blood samples from various agents. He’d even gotten his hands on Black Widow’s blood.

Fortunately, they’d caught him in time and nipped the cloning crisis in the bud.

So if Hawk had actually wanted to take Dr. Merrick with him, that would have been a hard no. But luckily, Hawk hadn’t refused their supervision.

Hill thought this to herself, smiling as she said, ”Thanks for understanding.”

Hawk laughed.

”He’s your guy. And you’ll probably be providing the equipment and materials too. Using your people and facilities to get my work done—I’m the one who should be saying thanks. If this Dr. Merrick can actually help me get what I want, I’ll owe you a favor.”

”Then I hope you get exactly what you’re looking for.”

”Thanks.”

Hawk looked at Hill and said it seriously. Then he added, ”I’m heading out.”

Hill’s smile didn’t waver. ”Take care.”

Hawk said nothing more. He looked up at the sky and vanished from Hill’s sight in an instant.

The next second—

Ten thousand meters above, Hawk was about to head home when he suddenly raised an eyebrow again. He seemed to remember something. His gaze dropped to the coalition forces’ temporary camp near Hell Gate.

In an instant, he vanished from his position once more.

...

Inside a temporary tent at the coalition base.

Security Council Representative Alexander Pierce was in the middle of an online intelligence briefing with the other four representatives regarding the sudden developments in Wakanda.

The four other representatives listened to Alexander Pierce’s description, their expressions all instinctively shocked.

”What do you mean Wakanda is gone?”

”Define ’gone.’”

”Just gone. Physically gone.”

”...”

The four representatives fell silent.

Alexander Pierce was about to speak again when he looked up—and saw Hawk suddenly appear in front of him. His eyelid twitched. He pressed a button with his finger, cutting off the ongoing video conference.

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